The Gaurdian
by Ceasar. a porcelian bowl king
Summary: suck at summaries, storys good though


chapter 1. run for you life

Nathan Smith  
>75th US army rangers 3rd bt<p>

"Suppressive fire! Suppressive fire!"

"Swarm! To the right!"

"Grenade, going in!"

"Reloading!"

"Use the '240! Use the MG!"

"Incoming!"

"They're coming through the alleyway!"

"We gotta fall back! There's too many of them!"

"Shut your mouth Corporal! Hold the line!"

"Get some! Get some!"

This…this is what we call combat. This is a battlefield. These are the sounds, the actions, the horrors, the rush; this is combat. This is war. This is my job. This is my life.

"HOLD THE LINE! HOLD THE FUCKING LINE!"

Sucks, don't it?

We're engaged in combat, all of us; me, my squad, my Platoon, my Company, my entire Regiment, every branch of the U.S Military! Hell, the whole world! Our entire species, the Human-Fucking-Race…is at war.

And we're losing. God help us, we're losing. We're losing to an enemy that isn't even supposed to exist. Fighting a menace that was once only seen on some cheesy Saturday night horror flick, invented by a man, apart of our imaginations, faced only in our nightmares…

I guess this means I'm living a nightmare now.

But like I said, I'm in the middle of a battle right now. We were split up from our sister Companies, and then separated from the other Platoons. So us, a single Platoon a little over forty men strong, are faced against a horde of hundreds maybe even thousands of zombies, stuck smack-dab in the middle of a city with millions more. Each one with an insatiable hunger, a hunger for human flesh, _my_ flesh.

We. Are. Fucked.

There's just so much gunfire now, muzzle flashes are lighting up the night sky. The claps and cracks of small arms fire, the roar of machine guns, the explosions of grenades and the terrified screams of my fellow soldiers around. And moans, oh god the moans! Each walking corpse releasing a horrifyingly hungry moan. And every moan causes another to moan, and then another, an another, an another, and a cycle begins. So many moans, that they are actually starting to pierce through our gunfire and echo through our heads.

So much noise, I can barley hear myself think.

I'm on the firing line, me and my squad, taking cover behind a Humvee that's currently parked alongside others for a makeshift barricade. The gunners on the vehicles unloading on the living dead, me, taking a knee and firing careful burst shots from my M16 at any gray skinned head that I see slouching or moaning. My Staff Sergeant and his RTO are right next to me. My mind can barley register the radio traffic going over the comm. That is until I hear the following.

"…_Grid ES 923 945! Danger close! How copy?"_

"_Solid copy. Shot, over."_

"_Shot, out."_

My eyes widen and I my head jerks to the sky, in a few seconds, I catch movement and I see the ordinance arch their way down and into the horde. The M109 Paladin artillery fire is dead accurate. Multiple 155 mm shells smash right on top of the horde and HE rounds light the sky and set the street ablaze. But as seconds pass and the fire dies out, the moans continue and the sight of burning zombies meet my gaze. Despite the overwhelming firepower, the artillery is rather ineffective at combating the undead and fails to stop the horde.

Most weapons are designed to shred a target's body with shrapnel, burn them to a crisp, cause so much pain that they die from shock or even create kinetic shockwaves that cause entire body systems to shut down.

Cool, I know.

But headshots, we're trying to acquire headshots here, destroy the brain. Not one super weapon in the U.S Arsenal was _ever _designed for headshots in mind.

But don't get me wrong, the zombies never ever get through battle unscathed. I've seen bodies blown to shit. Fried, shredded, decapitated, vaporized, atomized, the list goes on.

But if it's brain is still intact, then they won't die. I could slice off a whole head, from the neck up and the fucker would still be blinking and more importantly, biting.

And so in this war; tanks, artillery, choppers, planes, bombs, they are all nearly useless. The only thing that may win us this war, is a guy and his rifle.

And with those odds, I can't help but realize just how screwed we really are.

The Platoon continues to lay down as much gunfire as possible, but it's not enough. For every zombie I kill, three more take his place. There are just so many of them and so little of us, and we're running low on ammunition. The undead are getting closer, to close for comfort. We can't stop them and I'm losing hope. We all are.

The Lieutenant came running up to us and tapped my squad leader, Staff Sergeant McKinley on the shoulder. The LT's face is of panic and fear; he realizes just how hopeless the situation is and his next command fails to surprise anyone.

"McKinley, I need you and your squad to set up rifle teams in the apartments to our six!" He motioned to several building which were a few blocks away. "You need to cover the Platoon's retreat, now go!"

"Sir." The Staff Sergeant acknowledges the order and he rallies the nine of us. We quickly rush down the street, towards the apartment complex, pausing only to take out a few zombies which were starting to approach from our flanks. Which is a very bad sign.

The complex we occupy is multistoried and gives us a commanding view of the battlefield. But what meets our gaze, terrifies the shit out of us.

The crowd of undead that the Platoon was facing was much bigger than what we originally saw. Other than the main horde, there were multiple contingents of zombies who were shambling towards the firing line from every direction. Moving in through the buildings, alleyways, it seemed that they were everywhere.

We started firing down on those approaching the line, which in turn warned the Platoon of the ghouls attacking their flank. A few guys started to shift focus from the undead at the front of the barricade to the ones creeping up behind them. They were probably panicking, scared shitless at the sight of zombies moving in from all sides. But with them focusing on the flanking swarm; the main horde was met with much less opposition, resulting in them actually reaching the road block.

_This isn't good…_

The undead were squirming, climbing over the barricade, the troops who were arming the MGs on the Humvees were forced to abandon their guns. Those machine guns were the last hope we had. Without them, our fates are sealed.

I swore as I watched the Platoon, _my_ Platoon, become devoured alive by the feasting dead. They are surrounded from all sides, no where to run. And the worst part of this is that no matter what my squad does; we can't help'em. The others are going to die and we are powerless to stop them.

Dammit!

Over the radio, we can hear the LT's cries of terror as he is consumed by the undead.

"Shit! Please God! No, no, no, no, n-" The his voice is cut off by very human screams, unmerciful moans and a sickening wet gurgle.

I grip my rifle tightly and look up to my squad mates; each one has the same grim expression on their faces, each one probably thinking the exact same thing.

_No fucking way that'll be me!_

I turn to Staff Sergeant McKinley, who to my surprise complete disbelief, has a look of absolute horror stretched out on his face, as opposed to the normal "cool-under pressure" look he's always been handling.

Well…if that ain't nerve reckoning, I don't know what is.

"Staff Sergeant?" I begin, my voice kinda shaky, "Can I give free advice?"

"Go ahead." His face is grim and he speaks gravely, as if he's regretting ever enlisting in the army.

Hell, he probably is

I suddenly look around, realizing for the first time that not one of the guys in our squad have continued to fire from the complex that we have occupied.

Are they regretting it too? Or are they just scared shitless? Because I know _I_ am.

"Well?" McKinley says impatiently, breaking me away from my thoughts.

Oh yeah, forgot all about surviving.

"Perhaps now would be a good time to get the hell out of dodge?" I suggest lamely. He looks around for a bit, collecting his thoughts and coming to a decision while all eyes are on him.

"For once Smith, you speak something other than absolute bullshit. Lets get the hell out of here!". He says, suddenly all gung-ho on us.

After the Staff Sergeant said the latter, there was an assortment of "Hell Yeahs!" or "Hooah!" from the squad as we already began packing up weapons, ammo, and supplies. I don't exactly know just how long we'll be out there, dawn is coming up soon, and the hot-ass sun won't be very pleasant when we make it to the desert.

No wait, scratch that, _If_, if we make it to the desert.

"Sarge is dead! He's Fucking Dead! They dragged him into the alleyway!". Screamed one of my panicking squad mates, McKinley's RTO.

Hmmm…guess the fear is contagious.

And it's not only the two of us jumping on the panic train. The soldiers around me seem to be having trouble controlling their mouths.

"Jesus Christ!"

"No Fucking Way"

"They-they're surrounding us! What the hell do we do!"

"Head back to the third phase line, we left a team back there, and they had a running Humvee with them!". Hollered back another soldier, this one thinking clear and logical. We all agree as we start sprinting back, staying clear from any dark areas or possible ambush points where any ghouls could be hiding.

Out of the corners of my eyes, I can see a horde stalking us. Slowly, yes, but they are there, dozens of them, are for every one we see, there are two more that we don't. They won't be giving up on us. We can't afford to stop moving. They won't st-

Suddenly and without warning, I trip and fall beneath the earth, as if I just sprung open a trap-door. Darkness seems to consume me as I continue to fall. The world seems to slow down as I fall, after what felt like forever, I land, painfully and into some liquid, wet and warm.

_I can't see anything!_

My eyes open wide in fear as I begin to search my body for a flashlight, no luck so far.

_Dammit! I couldn't have been retarded enough to forget my stupid flashlight!_

"Crap!" I cry in anger and then regret when I realize that whatever is down here now knows that I'm here with them.

_I can't see shit…and what the hell is that smell!_

Oh cool, I found my flashlight! Hell yes, now where am I-

My eyes don't recognize my surroundings immediately, but only for a second before I realize where I unfortunately wound up at.

_Ok, now I can see shit…literally_

_I'm in a godforsaken sewer!_

"Sonofabitch!". I mutter in despair, careful to keep my voice down.

It didn't really matter, because only a few seconds after I said that, the world above me shook with multiple tremendous explosions. They shake the earth around me and the sewer begins to collapse.

My mouth opens to release a swear, but I'm not even fast enough to yell out before I am struck with an immense amount of pain and the world goes black.

chapter 2. where am i ?  
>nathan smith<br>75th ranger regiment 3rd bt

Am I dead?

I can't feel anything.

I must be. No one could have survived that.

Whoa, heaven sure is quite.

And…smells a lot like shit and ball sweat.

Oh no! I must have gone to the other side!

Wait…my eyes are still closed.

Which means that I'm still alive!

Alive…with the undead.

Crap.

Lets see, Zombies or Hell? Zombies or Hell?

Zombies?

Hell?

I'd rather take the latter.

Burning for all eternity sound so much more dignifying that being eaten alive.

When I open my eyes, I'm greeted with plenty of destruction. Whatever those explosions were, they caused the sewer to collapse in on itself.

A small ray of sunlight meets my eyes, it comes from a crack in the rubble and shows that the sun is out and shining on the surface.

The warmth feels good, now the question is how do I get up there?

Mobility. I suddenly come to the realization that I just might be paralyzed. And the chances of that are rather high since there's rubble covering my body, something _must_ have broken my spine. And if that's the case, I'll be down here for awhile, until dehydration kills me.

Or some lucky zombie finds me down here.

Shit. I'm in one hell of a predicament here, aren't I?

Well, there's only on way to know for sure.

I tried to move my fingers and success! They twitch, and I am rewarded with a lance of pain which quickly spreads throughout my body.

Holy Shit! So much fucking pain! Never before in my life have I felt something like this!

I release a moan, or more like a croak out of pain. Which causes my throat to burn and flare as if I just gargled with a highly corrosive acid.

Oh My God! Please make it go away! Please!

The pain is so intense that I nearly pass out.

Wait…that's it.

I take a deep breathe of polluted sewer air, which causes even more horrible suffering.

And then with a jolt, I force my body to sit upright.

**JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!**

Pain. All-enveloping pain. Lots of it.

I've been biting my lip this entire time, and through all of this pain, I can still feel drops of blood oozing down my chin.

My body is trembling uncontrollably which is just making it worst. My bones feel as if they are being grinded into dust and my muscles, my muscles are on fire, being burned at the stake.

Fuck!

But then god answers my prayers. My vision begins to fade to black

And the all the pain, all of it, every single last ounce, just goes away.

Phew, glad that's over…

I wake with jerk, and find myself in the same destroyed, putrid smelling sewer I fell into unconsciousness in. I slowly and cautiously, move my fingers.

And once again, there is pain.

But unlike before, its actually bearable this time.

With a grunt, I'm able to sit upright and fully survey my surroundings.

The place is a mess, rubble covers the entire area and there are multiple broken pipes breaking through the walls and ceilings. But there's some hope in the fact that there are beams of sunlight coming forth from cracks in the broken ceiling.

I glance down at my body to see nothing really serious, no impossibility heavy pieces of rubble trapping me to the ground, no iron bars stabbing through my chest, nothing but broken chunks of concrete covering me from head to toe. Probably the worst injury I got is a dislocated shoulder, or a broken rib.

Good, I get a break for once.

Incase you didn't realize it, that was sarcasm.

Anyways, my equipment is whole other story, my medical kit is spread all around the place, contaminated by the sewer water. Flashlight is busted. Helmet's gone. Same with my bag of MRE's and canteen.

To bad too, I'm kinda hungry.

At least my ammo is good, grenades are fine, pistol is in the holster and my rifle is sticking out of a pile of rubble.

I really hope it's still functional.

I crawl over to the pile and begin digging it out, in a minute, I succeed and start checking it for damages.

The M16A2 service rifle is a great weapon, fits comfortably, high stopping power, accurate, long range and with the addition of my M203 grenade launcher, one fearsome little bastard.

Lucky for me, it's not just deadly, it's durable. The rifle looks fine but I won't know for sure until I test the firing, and I ain't gonna do that down here. The sound will attract every zombie for a mile out.

That is considering anything is left out there, since that was kinda a huge explosion.

I wonder just what they used. Was it a nuke?

No, no couldn't be. I would have been incinerated, a mere sewer drain wasn't gonna stop a weapon equal to two megatons of TNT. So that was crossed out.

Was it C4? Stupid question, I would have noticed engineers setting them up.

Saturation fire? Yeah, Most likely. Airforce carpet bombing every square inch of land.

But then, why did they drop it on their own troops? There were still plenty of us alive down here. They knew that, right?

No, no they couldn't have, they wouldn't have sacrificed all of us, they had no clue we were still alive…couldn't have...

Screw it, no need moping around about something I'll probably never know. I gotta get topside.

I've got my survival to worry about.

I really, _really_ hate the friggin sewer.

It's dark, cold, smells horrid, and there's an eerie, nerve reckoning echo every two minutes.

But even though I hear something, there's nothingness. This sewer is completely empty!

I'm real confused that I haven't seen a single living soul…or undead ghoul, for my entire time down here.

Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely glad that there's not a single zombie down here. But what happened to all the other animals and creepy crawlies that live down here?

No mice, rats, dogs, cats, spiders, hell! Not even a single alligator.

So disappointing.

But yeah, what happened to all the sewer creeps? It's as if they knew the end was near, so they all packed up and ran off, or else they be devoured.

Devoured.

Eaten.

Eat.

…Meal

…Food…

Jesus Christ, I just realized I have a horrible case of the munchies. Seriously, I 'm friggin starving. I haven't eaten for two days, and I've gone through an entire war zone.

I'm really regretting not having that breakfast bar before we left the base.

Now I really wish there was a small animal in the sewer with me.

And yes, I am _that_ desperate.

I've been walking through the un-collapsed section of the sewer for a little less than an hour before more beams of sun shone down from the ceiling.

Wait…is-is that a…

Oh thank you lord! A manhole!

I started climbing in a rush, excited to reach the surface and feel the warm, soothing sunlight beating down on my face.

I had almost reached the top before I remembered to keep quite or else I'll be swarmed by an ocean of hungry bodies.

Luckily I was able to keep my mouth shut as I gripped the manhole cover and pushed it out of the way…

Allowing me to stare blankly at the fiery hell that stood before me.

chapter 3

Fire, ash and the smell of brunt flesh met my nose as I pushed out the manhole's cover, pulled myself up and took a few tentative steps on the ash filled streets.

No seriously, it was everywhere, ash covered the city's pavement like a blanket, the world was nothing but a gray and white dust cloud, hell it was even snowing!

Of course it wasn't real snow, just so much of the stuff in the atmosphere that it continuously fell from above. Just what in the hell caused this?

Fire, and a really big one at that. I think I smelled it earlier, but still had yet to confirm it. Yet I think that might be a little hard when it's difficult to see anything less than twenty feet in front of me.

…Wait a minute, where's the undead? Where's the swarm! It's too peaceful, not a single ghoul in sight or sound. Just bare, blank, empty, and the added silence, it's just so-what's the word? Erie?

Well, no good asking questions that won't be answered. Might as well get a move on and try to escape this zombie hell hole.

But first things first.

I collect my weapons, equipment, supplies and any ammo I can manage.

Now let's see: Got my '16 with two full 5.56 magazines and another clip half empty. For backup since I'm pretty much sure I'll run dry, I've got my M9 handy with three mags. I'm holding on to my last 40mm grenade for crowd control and I still have two more frags.

That's not nearly enough

I stare hard and cold at nothing in particular as I summarize my situation and calculate my chances of living to see another day.

Ok let's see, so I'm a U.S Army Private, alone and stuck in the middle of a flesh eating zombie-infested city. I've got about 90 rounds, give or take a few. If I'm stuck in a jam, a couple grenades, and if I'm injured…

I reach into my vest's many pockets and produced a single long strip of medical gauze.

Just in case I fall and scrap my knee, heh heh.

My stomach suddenly twists and grumbles, signaling that…well, that I'm starving. But of course I have not a ounce of food on me, hell I don't even have any water. Lost everything in that fucking sewer. And god knows just how much I'll need the nourishments.

I glance up and stare towards the city, even though I can't see a thing, Is it still there? Yeah, it's still there, and so are the undead.

How many I wonder. Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? A million?

Dammit, I'm in way over my head. Honestly, this journey is looking so horrible right now, so damn long and difficult! So much that it's looking impossible.

And maybe it is.

I cut off all brain waves and halt any rational thoughts after that. I need all concentration on just one question.

Is it worth it?

Is it? Well? Do I really want to go through all this, all this pain, torment, and suffering? Do I really want to try and make it out even though survival is not guaranteed yet death almost is?

Do I really want to try?

Do I really think I can make it?

There is however another way.

I could always take that solution.

When that thought crossed my mind I hesitantly unholstered my pistol, ejected a single round and let it rest on my palm and let my mind be swarmed by thoughts.

There is always that solution

All I have to do is pull the trigger

Quick and painless…

…But death is guaranteed…

I sat there for awhile, just sat there staring aimlessly at the bullet in my hand, contemplating whether or not I should do it. Wondering if I could even do it.

Do I have the balls to do so?

A moment passed.

Then another.

Then another…

"…No", I say silently to myself as I close my eyes and grip my fist close so hard it turns my knuckle white.

Ok, so sure I don't have the balls to shoot myself.

But I _do_ have the balls to fight through a city of hungry zombies, find a way out, and then live my days against all odds and though all turmoil just so I could see the sun rise the next morning.

Well, that counts for something, right?

Alright, so it's decided, I fight on through and against everything that god chooses to throw at me.

I packed up my supplies, checked, then double check my weapons and then made sure everything was set for the hell before me.

But lastly, I took a long, hard glance at the 9mm cartridge in my palm.

Another minute passed before I took the bullet, and gently placed it inside my pants pocket.

_Save one round…just in case._

Hey, what do you know! Guess I do have the balls to off myself after all.

The sky was red, I just realized that. So much crap filling the air from the fires I guess, must be doing wonders on the ozone.

I've been walking for sometime now, maybe two hours at most. Through all the smoke and destruction, it's hard to keep track of something so unimportant like time.

Actually it was hard to keep track of anything, other than that single recurring thought.

When will they come for me?

It's true, I am paranoid, but I bet you'd be too. I mean, I've only seen a total of eleven zombies so far. Honestly, this city was the most populated stretch of land for miles, you think there would be more corpses.

…Well there are, but I mean walking corpses, not the dead ones.

…Shit, when I say dead I mean…Well you know what I'm talking about, I'm not gonna explai-

Wait, wait, wait; what was that…could I have just heard what I thought I've heard?

…Gunshots

And gunshots means people!

Living people!

My day is finally looking up.

I found him about a klick away from my position. Wasn't very hard, all I had to do was follow the trail of bodies.

He was sprawled out and on top of a police cruiser which seemed it have crashed into a light pole, dark, crusty brown blood splashed the hood of the vehicle.

The man was short, yet muscular Hispanic with a buzz cut that looked smooth and in military regulation.

He also wore the standard MARPAT uniform of a marine.

Oh great, a jarhead.

I came up from behind the car, silent and stealthy so he wouldn't mistaken me for a ghoul.

"Hey." I said in a loud whisper.

He jerked up in reaction and brought his sidearm to bare. The fear in his eyes was almost comical, I would have laughed if I didn't have a gun pointed to my head.

It took him a moment to realize I wasn't going to eat him, then he lowered his sidearm.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." I calmed him.

"Asshole." He whispered under his breath, he sounded tired and his voice was raspy.

I stood there for awhile, just letting him catch his breath, battlefield fatigue is horrible.

"So you got a name and rank?" He asked possibly annoyed by my silence.

"Private First Class Nathan Smith, U.S Army." I replied.

"Corporal Jacob Medina, U.S Marines."

Once again, it was quiet.

"So" I started, ending the uneasy silence, "Do you know what happened here?"

He laughed, "What? The fact that the great U.S military got their asses kicked here and everywhere else in the country or why there's a stream of bodies leading up to me?"

"Umm no, where is everybody and why is it raining ash? Although that last story sounds pretty interesting." I answered.

He smiled, but it was gone in a second, "Where you been at? Knocked out for last 24 hours or something?"

"Actually, I think I was." I admitted.

Medina let out a deep, tired sigh, the kind of sigh that people give when they recall a story that they promised themselves they never would tell again.

"Well to pretty much sum it all up, the Air Force blew this and I guess every other city in the country, to shit." He answered dryly.

"What? How?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"Cluster and Thermobaric munitions, dropped them all over the city."

I was shocked to say the least, I held my voice, I had nothing to say.

"They only used the Fuel Air on heavy infested locations", Medina continued despite my stunned silence, "Unfortunately, the most populated zombie positions were right on top of our own."

"So-"

"Yep, friendly fire…_friendly-fucking fire_!" Out of anger, he slammed the grip of his pistol against the cruiser's emergency lights, the glass was stronger than it seemed and resisted the force of the blow. He pulled back his weapon and clutched his chest in pain.

"Jesus, you okay?" I asked, now concerned for the first friendly face I've seen for at least a day.

"No…not really." He answered truthfully, in pain and out of breathe.

My eyes now spotted the problem that evaded me for the whole conversation, two deep red holes that bled through the ballistic vest he wore.

"Oh shit, you've been hit!"

"Really? I haven't noticed." He responded, sarcasm thick.

"Don't screw around man, this is serious!" I lowered my voice slightly, "Now tell me where you're hit."

"You got two working eyes asshole, look for yourself."

Damn, this guy has a bigger ego than me.

"They look like they're centered around the ribs." I asked for his confirmation.

"Congrats, your right." His sarcasm was starting to bug me.

Is this how I make other people feel? Gotta lay off on the sarcasm.

"Alright, hold still." I said as I began to unzip his gear. For some reason though, he refused and shoved my hand away.

"No, no." He gasped for breath, "Don't even try."

What the hell is this guy's problem? The wounds didn't look mortal, so why was he resisting my help?

"Why won't you let me help you!" I demanded.

"Two reasons." He said forcing a smile, "One: You don't have time."

"What do you mea-" And then I heard it, that distinct sound that sends my body into shakes and makes my blood run cold.

The moans and crazed snarls of the starving undead.

Oh shit!

I whipped around so fast that my vision became nothing but a blur, but then I saw them. By my guess I would have to say a little over a hundred of the fuckers. They came right at us, limping and waddling, slowly albeit, but still they were coming and they were coming just for us.

Oh fuck!

I started panicking, it was the only thing that made sense to do at that moment, only thing that came to mind.

I started rant, "Come on, Come on! We-We gotta go! Can't stay here, come on!" I yelled at Medina who, to my shock and utter frustration, started laughing.

"Wha-What the hell is so damn funny!" I exclaimed.

I am _sooo_ not in the mood for this.

"You know what?" He began, "I don't even know why I'm laughing…but I'm not going with you soldier."

"The fuck are you on about?" Now I was real confused.

"Remember how I said two reasons?" He said as he began to fold up his BDU pants leg.

"What are you talking about? Your wounds aren't fatal! You'll be-" I stopped as I looked down at his exposed leg. A chunk of muscle was missing; the flesh was brownish, mushy and smelled like a dead animal would.

Oh god…he's been _bit_

Crap, he's infected!

"Well as you can see" Medina just kept talking, "I'm a dead man walking; in fact, I bet I'll be dead within the next hour or so."

I didn't say anything because…well.. Because I didn't know what to say, couldn't think of anything, nothing other than "Go down fighting Marine!" came to my head. But lucky for me, that was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Well? Don't just stand there! Get the hell out of my sight you fucking army grunt!" Medina's yelling snapped me back into the real world.

I narrowed my eyes at him, but then softened them when I realized he was smiling…a blood filled smile.

Damn this fucking infection and what it does to people!

There's nothing I can do, I can't help him at all…wait, I think I can.

"So" I started, "How much ammo you got left?"

He looked at me and smiled, but it was gone is a heartbeat, replaced my a series of uncontrolled coughing and spitting up of blood.

After recovering, he picked up his M9 and began to play with it in his hands.

"I've got whatever is left in this clip and one more extra." He said.

"Is that it?" I asked

"Yep, that's about all."

I reached inside my hardness and pulled out a pair of 9mm magazines and laid them down on the cruiser's hood.

Medina immediately refused, "No no, I can't take this! You'll need it more than me!" He exclaimed while attempting to hand the ammo back to me.

"Not a chance marine, you're gonna have one hell of a last stand, and you can't accomplish that with only a clip and a half." I told him.

He stared straight into my eyes and I did the same to him, eventually I won I guess, since he took the magazines and set them down right next to himself.

"Okay then." He finally said, "I don't have the patience to argue and you have to get out of here, like now."

I looked up, he was right, the horde was closing in, they were now about a fourth of a klick away. I could see them almost clearly now; their pale, gray faces, the thick, black liquid that oozed out of their mouths, and their blank, unconscious stares which proved that any trace of humanity they once had were all but gone.

I turned my head, I just couldn't bare to stare at those… pardon the pun: dead eyes, but truth be told, it scared the shit out of me.

I glanced back towards Medina who is surprising smiling at the zombies coming this way.

"Now what's so funny?" I asked.

"Not funny, I'm happy." He answered.

"Wha-" I started to rant but he interrupted me.

"Let me finish, I said I'm happy, I'm happy because I'll finally be with all those I lost in this whole fucked up rodeo. My friends, my family, my wife…son." The last part was an almost incomprehensible whisper.

I felt slightly less guilty about leaving him behind now, he was about to be together with his loved ones again, who was I to postpone his long awaited peace?

And so as my finally farewell to my short lived comrade, I handed him something else, something that will definitely send him out with a proper bang.

When Medina took it, his face's features eased up, he grinned and then took my hand in a respectful shake.

"Good luck out there, Grunt."

"Kick some ass, Jarhead."

And then we parted ways, I jogged towards the other direction without a single thought of glancing back. Not even when the steady claps of pistol fire began…or when the resulting boom of a grenade echoed through the night.

And then just like that, there was nothing but silence.

It took awhile, till nightfall to be exact, but I eventually reached a U.S Army roadblock over looking a road that lead straight out of town and into the unpopulated desert.

The roadblock was a mess, bullet casings carpeted the ground, equipment lay broken and trashed, and blood splatter painted the vehicles.

Lucky for me, I found a clean Humvee armed with a .50 Caliber with it's keys still locked in. Hell it even had a full tank of gas in it!

I spend a good ten or fifteen minutes after scavenging the surrounding area and other vehicles for ammo, supplies, gasoline, food, weapons and well pretty much everything that might be of use on my journey.

Where ever the hell this journey is taking me.

As I started the Humvee and rolled out of town, I threw that and any other distressing thoughts out of the window. I've had one hell of a day, all I want and desperately need right now is a little time to myself in which I'm not plagued by images of death, destruction, chaos, and fucking zombies.

I subconsciously reached inside my pockets and pulled out the single 9mm round that I decided to save incase suicide was my only option.

I twirled it around my fingers for a bit, staring aimlessly towards the desert road and out into the darkness.

I put away the bullet a little while later, safely pocketed it inside my pants.

_You know, just in case._

chapter 4

I drove around the dusky Colorado desert for about an hour before my eyes became droopy and I became weak and weary; The combat stress was starting to settle in. I was in dire need for some R&R.

I pulled the humvee off the road and parked it alongside a few desert shrubs for; call me paranoid, but for concealment.

I quickly rummaged through the piles of sacks and containers holding all the equipment I managed to obtain. I picked up my newly acquired helmet and attached my new toy, night vision goggles, my edge against whatever is stupid enough to try and ambush me in the dark.

I switched my rifle off safety and slowly stepped out of the humvee into a quiet, pitch black night.

Of course with the support element of my NVG's, the environment was very less dark and much more bright electric green. It was actually very pretty.

…Did I really just say that?

Wow, something must be wrong with me.

Well anyways, I searched the surrounding area for a good ten minutes until I was 100% sure it was clear of any infected, last thing I need is something to disturb my beauty sleep. And god knows I need it. I'm exhausted, Who knew surviving the zombie apocalypse would take so much energy?

I climbed back into the humvee, locked the doors, held my weapon tight, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

_Tomorrow will be better._ Was my last thought before I lost consciousness all together.

I awoke the next day to a loud tapping at my window.

No wait, not just tapping. There was the sound of scratching, snapping and…moans.

My eyes shot opened and I sprang forward, pistol in hand.

_Oh crap_

I counted near thirty, all males, mostly kids, all dressed in the same retarded, colorful uniforms.

Damn boy scouts! They just had to go camping way out here in the desert, didn't they!

They were all punching, clawing and trying to get a good grip on the windows. They were everywhere, surrounding the humvee.

I craned my neck to the left and came face to face with one of them.

It was one of the camp counselors, tall, muscular, and with long, dirt blonde hair that seemed to go pass his shoulders.

But I still got a good few at his features, and it scared the shit out of me.

His skin may have been dark and tanned once before, but not anymore. It was a sickly yellowish color with spots of gray detailing areas of intense mold and decomposition. His right ear was missing, bitten clean off, and his mouth was foaming with a strange black liquid. And his eyes, oh god the eyes! They were blank, cold, unemotional, unfocused, and pale white. It was as if he were a blind man.

But no, he wasn't blind, not by a long shot. He stared at me, right at me! His white, dead eyes made direct contact with my own living, emerald ones. I sat there for a moment just staring, it was the first time I ever saw one up close.

And then he lunged at me.

"Christ!" I yelped in reflex and jumped back.

I felt incredibly stupid afterwards for the he just stood there, face resting on the window, palms pressed hard against the glass, pushing against it with all their might, hoping to break the barrier in full force. He released a sick, inhuman gurgle as a sign of struggle.

I chuckled, raised my hand and waved my very favorite finger at him.

I was lucky, the humvee's windows and windshield were bullet proof. No way an army of short, scrawny, preadolescent zombies and their babysitters are gonna break through.

"Try all you want!" I mocked them "Not a single one of you bastards are gonna make it in here!"

And then I felt the hood of the humvee shake.

What the hell? What could have done that?

My eyes widened in realization as I whipped my head around and stared into the gaping hole that lead out to the roof of the humvee.

The hole was used as a firing position that a gunner would take if they were arming the .50 Cal. It allowed quick transfer between the inside of the humvee and the controls on the gun.

It also doubled as an extra entrance, which would be very, very bad in my current situation.

Time seemed to stop as I gazed up at the opening, my attention fixed on not a thing else. I just sat there, waiting. A second passed before he popped his head out.

It was one of those kids, couldn't have been more than twelve. He hissed at me, I glared at him, he reached forward, I pulled the trigger.

Two 9mm slugs ripped straight through his head like it were wet paper. The brain matter splattered out and must have stained the outside of the humvee crimson. His body flew back and made contact with the ground and was followed by a thump.

That thump was much louder than I had hoped, it seemed that all of the ghouls outside stopped what they were doing and went to inspect their fallen comrade.

No, not inspect, examine.

From my vantage point I could see them circling the body. They began to…well, sniff and inhale the scent of the slain zombie.

Now would be a good time to wave the WTF flag.

They started to look around, blank eyes searching the area aimlessly. They eventually rested on the humvee, the roof of it to be precise, directly at the gunner port.

Uh oh

The swarm approached, the humvee's weight shifted, the bastards were climbing up!

"I am so fucking out of here." I muttered to myself.

I took a seat in front of the wheel and checked the ignition.

No keys

"Oh give me a break!" I panicked as my eyes darted around, praying for some signs of the keys.

The shaking of the humvee became more and more wild, a pair of hands appeared out of the roof opening. I was screwed.

So this is how it all ends, trapped inside a truck, flesh eating zombies on all sides, waiting to be consumed?

Well sorry to disappoint but I'm going in style

I fumbled inside my pocket for that spare bullet, the one I said that I would save in case escape was impossible. Well anyways, instead of pulling out that extra round, I pulled out something else, something which made a…jingle.

The Keys!

I stared at them, dumbfounded for a moment of two, mentally slapping myself for how stupid I was.

The hissing coming from behind broke my gaze.

In the blink of an eye, the keys were inserted and the engine was revved, it shocked me just how fast I was.

Those few unlucky zombies standing in front of the hood were thrown far as I put the petal to the metal.

The shrubs, bushes and small hills caused major bumps and turbulence which worked to my advantage. The ghouls on top were thrown off like wild dogs, a few even dropped in front of the wheels, resulting in a very satisfying crunch.

Before I even knew it, I was rolling down the highway doing about seventy, the scratches and moans ceased awhile ago.

I took a deep breath before I was able to calm down and slow my vehicle down to a reasonable speed.

I continued driving for a good mile or two until I was sure nothing was following me.

Hey, you would be paranoid too if you were in my situation.

Anyways, I decided that now would be a great time to pull over and take a breather.

No, not a breather, instead, a real, good, long ass laugh.

Why you might ask? Well honestly I don't know. I just might be a little bit crazy.

Crazy…but alive

Three days, three days on the road, three days spent tired, hungry and…alone.

…

Uh, forget about that last one, it's unimportant.

But back on track, I've barley slept a wink and I'm running on a _single_ meal a day! Truthfully, those MRE's don't really fill my belly up.

Hey wait, what's that off in the distance?

Is that a building?

No, a gas station.

Ohhh…perhaps my luck just returned.

Wonder if there is any food in the station, but I shouldn't get my hopes up though…

"Holy Crap!" I exclaimed out of joy when I stepped into the store.

It was rather big for just a simple gas station, easily twice the size of the ones found in the cities. Snacks and junk food were stacked along the walls and shelf's. Candy and cereal boxes littered the floor, but other than that, it was kind of clean and neat. I walked over to a Snickers bar which lay on the ground, I torn open the wrapper and sniffed the contents just to be safe. When I took the first bite, my hunger came back out at me in full force, I must have inhaled the whole bar in a few seconds, then moved on to the next one.

I was happy, simple as that, my food problems were now over, but now I was thirsty…

I glanced towards the sets of refrigerators in the back, none of them were working. I hoped that the drinks are still good.

I walked up to the cashier counter, searching for the light switch to power the-

Sweet! They have Playboy here!

_Don't get sidetracked Nathan, look at the pretty women later_

My bad, where was I?

Oh yes, light switch

After I finally found it, it came at no surprise when there was ass results.

Oh well, can't be that lucky.

I strolled back out of the store, still munching on my candy. I walked to the gas pumps, gripped a handle, crossed my fingers and pulled the switch.

I think I did some stupid, embarrassing little dance when the pump shot out a stream of gasoline.

Happy with that, I took a precautionary search around the structure, making sure that it was secure.

When I was finished with that, I started unloading my heaps of supplies taken from the barricade.

I grabbed any spare or empty jerry cans I could find and filled them up with gasoline, you know, just in case something bad happens, so that I'll have gas covered.

…Why does gasoline smell so horrible?

No wait, is that me?

I slowly put my nose to my battle dress uniform and took a big whiff.

_Blah!_

I'm still wearing the crap covered clothes from my little sewer adventure. I smell like shit!

I stopped whatever I was doing and without haste, I quickly ran over to all the rucksacks I brought along and rummaged through.

Ah, here we go, a fresh pair of battle dress uniform pants and a gray Army shirt, hey there's even a new pair of boots along with it.

A few minutes later and I'm strapped up in clean, well smelling clothes. The station store even has spray and roll-on deodorant for me, I like to think of it as an alternative to showering.

As for the old uniform, well I decided to throw out the worn and ragged fatigues out. It's almost useless now, holes and tears covered it from top to bottom and the once crisp grayish-white Army camouflage was now brown, black and ugly.

Why should a soldier wear something that makes him look as if he cannot even defend himself?

Speaking of defense, that reminds me.

I walked back out and to the crates of weapons and ammo waiting to be spent.

And trust me when I say, there were _a lot_ to be spent.

Cases full of 5.56 NATO and 9mm mags, 40mm grenades, a couple M67's frags, two canisters of .50 Caliber rounds; hell I even got a pretty well supply of Claymore mines!

Damn, I've got enough firepower here to put Rambo to shame.

I looked around at all the claymores before an idea popped into my head.

"I'm making me a fort." I said to myself with a stupid grin plastered to my face.

I'm finished! And it only took me five days!

The entire gas station was now surrounded by a four foot deep trench which went full circle.

Other than a small pathway that leads out, there was no way in unless you climb or jump, something that zombies have major problems accomplishing.

And even if they get in, the Humvee waits out in the front, machine gun ready to pick off any lucky ghouls that get pass.

But that's not enough, not by a long shot. I also have multiple submerged claymores scattered around the front, set on a detonator. Only used as a last resort though.

Yes, now I can kick back and relax.

I casually walked inside the store, grabbed a couple bags of chips, moved down to the fridge and picked out myself a nice warm beer.

What? So I'm not 21, who cares? The world ended if you haven't noticed and I survived! I think I'm entitled to at least a few congratulatory beers.

The floor looked comfortable enough, so I popped myself against the wall and laid my ass down. I used my bayonet to pry the cap off and took a nice, long, well deserved swig.

"Welcome to your new home Nathan, welcome to your new home" I said to myself as I stared aimlessly at the opposing wall.

"Well" I started, "It's more like welcome to your new life."

I took another swig before I felt a severe feeling of loneliness sweep over my body, but I pushed the feeling aside.

"Better just live with it; I mean it's not like a big group of survivors are gonna be rolling by anytime soon."

Now if I only knew the amount of irony in that last sentence.

Well, it's been about two months that I've spent living in this gas station.

And my life is borrrrring!

Seriously, God please kill me now!

Every single day is the same damn thing, same order, same retarded progression.

Wake up, eat, take a walk, inspect defenses, bathroom break, clean rifle, eat, clean pistol, clean bayonet, take a nap, wake up, grab snacks, climb to roof, spend six hours on the roof, eat, wank off, take a nap, wake up, watch sun set, attach night vision, sit still for an hour, sleep, and repeat.

And that's pretty much been every single day of my life for the past two months!

There's no more excitement, so believe it or not but I actually miss seeing the occasional zombie. I haven't shot at anything in almost a full month. Don't get me wrong, I love the peace and quiet, but I need a little action once in awhile.

Oh well, enough bitching, time to start my day again.

I walked over to the humvee and adjusted the side view mirrors so that it were facing me.

As I started brushing my teeth I stared at my reflection, I realized that I haven't really changed since when I first enlisted during Junior year.

I ran my free hand through my short brown hair, the front was always rebellious, it stayed spiked up as if I used gel, don't ask why it does that. My green eyes, sharp but wide at times, revealed that I'm not as experienced as I would like to be. I may be tall and have some muscle, but compared to the others who were in my unit, I was the weak, little youth. Hell, I don't even have any facial hair, never really grew out for me, can you believe that?

So yeah, if someone were to see me now, my appearance wouldn't strike them as a soldier, I wouldn't even be taken for a man. No I'm still a kid, still a stupid kid, a stupid kid in way over his head.

And that's an understatement.

Well at least I'm still alive, right?

That counts for something I guess.

But yea-

…Wait, what was that?

I hear something.

It sounds like, like…

A…Car

No wait, a truck

Multiple trucks!

My head jerked around, my palms started getting damp and my legs started shaking because coming this way was a convoy. And unless zombies can drive cars now, those are other survivors heading towards the station.

I quickly ran back inside to grab my rifle.

My day just got a whole lot more interesting.

chapter 5

counted six, yep, six vehicles in the convoy. A civilian Hummer taking the lead, a School Bus following, some sort of News Van behind that, an Ambulance, an Oil Tanker, and to top it all off, an old Army M35 Cargo truck with what looked like a very big gun on the top.

There must be a lot of people in that convoy. I wonder if they'd mind adding another to their ranks…

I decided to not dwell on that thought just yet and instead, tried to make a good first impression.

A couple minutes ago I had ran back inside the station to fetch my rifle, combat harness, and any tactical gear I could muster. So now I wait here, all suited, up armor and all; standing as straight and tall as possible, trying to make myself look as official and intimidating as possible.

Yeah, tough luck on that.

Well at least they noticed me, for the lead Hummer sped up as the other trucks slowed to a stop. The yellow vehicle stalled not far from the front of the station, it just sat there for a minute or two, seemingly searching around the station for any signs of danger.

Or maybe they were just probing my defenses.

A sudden wave of fear gripped my body tight as I let paranoia rule my thoughts.

What if they aren't friendly? What if they just want my resources and have no need for me? What if they are cannibals and hungry for my flesh!

I could have laughed right there at my stupidity, but no, had to focus, I still had half a mind to jump into the trench I dug and take defensive positions.

But instead, I took a deep breath, centered myself, and began a very uncomfortable walk to the Hummer.

The occupants of said truck took from my example and exited their vehicle, I got clear sights on the three of them.

There was a woman, red hair flowed down her back, aviator glasses covered her eyes, she was walking a bit faster than the other two, looked like she was in charge.

Next was a tall guy, something about him just screamed military; combat vest, knee and elbow pads, tactical gloves, the confident yet alert way he walked, the MP7 strapped to his chest, it all fit the image.

The last one look relaxed and very laidback, he grinned as he walked, no wait, strolled over. A pair of pearly whites flashed from dark skin. I kinda like this guy and I haven't even met him yet.

We all stopped a few feet from each other. The look at me bottom to top, taking in my appearance. I guess Army personnel are a rarity these days.

There was an awkward silence for a moment or two.

"Uhhh" I broke the silence with a pitiful attempt at conversation, "So…hi".

Oh my god, that was so lame.

I don't think they really cared, for the redhead walked forward and extended her hand.

"Claire Redfield" She said with a smile.

I accepted her hand and shook, "Nathan Smith" I said.

The other two also reached out for a shake.

"Carlos Oliveira" The military looking man said.

"Lloyd Jefferson Wayne, call me L.J" The laidback guy said.

I gladly shook their hands and repeated my greeting.

There was once again, to my chagrin, another awkward moment of silence.

The one guy, Carlos, decided to break the ice, "So were you expecting company or what?" He motioned towards the defense perimeter I had set up.

I smiled embarrassed and scratched the back of my head, "Uh no, not really, but it never hurts just to be safe."

He in turn smiled, "True, so are those claymores over there? He asked, intrigued.

"Oh yeah" I answered, "Thought they would come in handy."

"Smart kid." He nodded in approval and then turned to Claire, who seemed to be impatiently waiting for our little "chat" to be over with.

"Sorry" Carlos said to her apologetically, Claire just rolled her eyes, then she turned her attention to me.

"Okay look" She started, "I'm just gonna cut the bullshit. We need supplies; food, ammo, oil, whatever. You have said supplies, so simply put, we need those goods in order to survive."

I blinked.

"I apologize if I'm coming off a little strong" Claire continued, "But I just like to keep things short and sweet."

"We aren't trying to steal everything you own" Carlos chimed in, "Neither are we forcing you into, we are simply asking, do you think you could share?" He finished with a smile.

I stared at the two, lost in thought for a second. No, not because I was choosing an answer, I had already decided on that. Right now I was fantasizing about one simple thing.

Would they permit me to join their convoy? God I hope so.

I figured that it would be a good idea if I got on their good side before I throw an idea that blunt in their faces.

I smiled, "Of course you guys can have supplies, take whatever you need."

In flash, Claire was on her radio and the rest of her convoy was steadily rolling on in towards the station.

"Thanks" said Carlos as he walked back over to their Hummer to fetch for something I guess.

And that left just me and L.J. He looked at me, I to him. That stupid silence that always seems to happen when I meet someone new loomed in the air.

Then he spoke, "So what do you do for fun around here?"

I answered, "Mostly just sit around and read I guess."

He raised an eyebrow at my answer, "Read man? Nothing else interesting to do?"

I shrugged "Well for me, It all depends on what I'm reading."

He seemed to accept my answer, "Yeah, I guess, so books you got?

"Uh, mostly just magazines, the store had quite a few behind the cashier."

His ears perked up at the call of magazines, "Really? Anything a guy like me would like?" He asked, hopefully

I thought about it for a moment. Should I…yeah why not?

"The hell with it" I said, "I got a couple of Playboys in the pile you could have."

I think his eyes bulged out of his skull from either surprise or excitement, maybe a little of both.

"And if you think that's sweet" I smirked, "Then wait till you see all the beer I have stored in the back."

He grinned from ear to ear, once again showing off his pearly whites.

"Nathan bud" He said, "You just became my new best friend."

"Okay back it up, you're clear, you're clear!" I yelled to the driver of the oil tanker, a cowboy named Chase.

I was helping the convoy in refueling and whatnot, but then Claire asked to help supervise in guiding over the huge ass tanker over to the gas pumps. All of this would have been uncalled for if I just didn't dig up a defensive trench around the station. Some parts of the ditch was accessible by vehicle, others were not, I was given the job of leading the trucks to the part that were.

Of course first, I had to move my humvee out of the way and then, I was tasked with uninstalling every single last claymore I had set up.

Yeah, so as of right now, I'm really pissed off that all the hard work I'd gone through a few months ago were now worth jack and shit. There was never even one single major zombie attack. Just a few lame stragglers.

A very loud crashing sound brought me back to the real world, I cringed and turned to face the direction where the noise came from. My face kinda fell at what I saw.

Earlier on, when I had moved the humvee, I had to move every piece of equipment I had along with it. This included multiple boxes of ammunition. Now I had decided to stack them on top of the humvee, not giving it another thought or to secure and lock the case.

Bad move on my part.

The convoy has a very large population of children, and children get very bored, very easily. To keep them occupied, their babysitter and bus driver, Otto, had given them a soccer ball to play with.

Unfortunately, the kids had chose to play rather close to the humvee, and that soccer ball just happened to crash right into the stack of ammo crates I had piled on top.

The crates went crashing to the earth and I heard the faint clicks of ammo falling all over the place.

Well ain't that just great.

Carlos came out of the station a second later to investigate the noise. I glanced over to him and he spoke, "Uh sorry 'bout all this…let me take over from here, you can go clean up."

I nodded and walked over to the humvee.

Otto was busy scolding the six year olds to more careful or something when he saw me, uttered an apology, then took the kids off someplace else.

I sighed and started picking up the dozens upon dozens of bullets which layered the ground. I was so focused on cleaning, that I didn't even notice someone coming up behind me until they spoke.

"Do you need any help?" a soft, feminine voice called out.

I looked up, a bit surprised someone else offered to lend a hand.

The girl in turn was young and very pretty, her blonde hair pulled up into a messy ponytail was and covered by a baseball cap. Dressed in a white tee and skirt with cute stocking and boots, then she was wearing…is that make-up?

Well the word pretty comes to mind again.

"Uh yeah, sure, I uh…really appreciate it." I replied stupidly

Oh yeah, smooth move Nathan, no wonder you were forever single throughout high school.

Thankfully she didn't seems to notice my awkwardness, instead, she began gathering the ammo on the ground. I followed suit until we had clean the ground of all spilt cartridges. She smiled at me and I returned it with a thankful smile of my own.

"Thanks again, I really appreciate it" I thanked her again.

"No problem, I was watching and it looked like you could use some help." She said smiling still.

I raised an eyebrow at her and smirked, "You were watching me?"

Okay, now I was in control.

Her eyes shot down to the ground and she blushed furiously, all different shades of red. I just grinned some more.

But of course, here comes the awkward silence that never wants to quit following me. Lets see how long this one lasts.

One thousand one.

One thousand two.

One thousand three.

One thousand four.

"Sorry" she mumbled quietly, making it a little hard for me to hear.

"No, I'm sorry, shouldn't have taken such a cheap shot like that." I attempted to fix the situation.

It seemed to relax her, for she nodded and half smiled.

"I don't think I properly introduced myself" I said extending my hand for a shake, "Name's Nathan."

She accepted it, smiling fully now, "My name's K-"

Her introduction was cut short however when another loud crash of smashed glass rang from out of the store. I glanced back, I could hear loud cursing, it sounded like L.J.

"Crap, sorry, gotta see what's up." I apologized to her and she nodded. But she looked kinda…well, sad about it.

I didn't ponder on that for long because I had started racing towards the store. When I ran in, the sight of broken glass bottles and the smell of beer met my nose.

"L.J, what the hell happened here?" I exclaimed.

He walked forward from behind the counter…wearing nothing but boxers and holding a Playboy magazine.

"I can explain everything!" he cried.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Today is gonna be one hell of a long day.

"Alright, pack it up kids, time for bed."

There was an assortment of groans from the children as a reply to Claire. Nevertheless, the kids started packing up and heading back to the trucks.

I sat around a campfire, enjoying a few beers with L.J and Carlos, talking abut generally anything; sports, movies, pastimes, hobbies. You know, stuff we used to do before the whole "end of the world" broke out.

I had to admit, being around people again felt a little weird, but now, I loved every second of it.

We laughed at a joke L.J cracked and my eyes drifted to the retreating herd of children.

"You know you guys don't have to sleep in the trucks, there's plenty of room in and around the station." I suggested.

Carlos looked at me and shook his head, "Naw" he said, "We've already caused you enough trouble, last thing you need is a dozen kids running around you're home."

"I don't mind" I said, "I really enjoy being around people again."

Carlos didn't get a chance to reply because Claire walked over to or little circle.

"That means you too boys" she said, "Need you all well rested for the long drive we'll have tomorrow."

That definitely caught my attention.

"Tomorrow!" I exclaimed flabbergasted, "You guys are leaving tomorrow!"

"Well ya" said Claire, "We don't want to cause you anymore trouble."

"Trouble?" I nervously laughed, "No trouble at all, I really, really enjoy the company, I just wish you guys could stay longer."

Carlos and Claire shared a grin.

"Well in that case" Carlos started, "Why don't you come along with us?"

The little voice inside my head started screaming, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Fuck Yes!"

"R-really?" I stammered, happiness bountiful.

"Of course" said Claire, "You'll be very valuable in the convoy."

"I will be?" I said, not really thinking.

"Duh" L.J laughed.

"You're U.S Army" Carlos said, making quotations in the air, "Firearms training, First-Aid, Explosives" He motioned to the Humvee, "The added firepower of the .50 and that ammo and food, we'd be crazy not to let you join."

"So what do you say?" Claire asked.

I think my eyes were blank with thought and staring down a thousand yards. My mind processing everything all at once.

"Yes" I finally said blankly. They all looked amused by my happily surprised face.

I finally regained control and grinned at them all. Carlos patted me on the back and L.J gave me a high five.

I let my eyes wander for a second and they eventually made contact with bright blue eyes and a familiar blonde ponytail.

It was the girl from earlier and she must have been staring at me when I wasn't looking. When I glanced at her, she quickly looked another direction. I raised an eyebrow at her and continued staring for a moment. She risked another glance at me just to find my eyes still on her. I think I saw her blush and quickly sped away to the trucks.

My eyes followed her retreating form before loud laughing from L.J broke me out of that trance.

I returned my attention to the others, laughing to the joke that I didn't hear. My mind was still focused on one thing.

Who was that girl?

I released a very long and loud yawn the next morning.

I spent all night packing up every last piece of food, ammo, gasoline, and supplies into the trucks and my Humvee. So needless to say, I was plenty tired.

The rest of the trucks were lined up on the road, all set and ready for the long journey ahead of them.

They were all waiting on yours truly, Claire had said for me to take the rear of the convoy as a precaution since I was new and had the machine gun on top.

The other survivors didn't really seem to mind the wait, they were all pretty excited that there was a new face among their ranks.

After everything that was worth keeping was packed and ready for travel, I made a final goodbye to the station that was my home for the past couple of months.

"Nathan!" yelled Claire who broke my train of thought, "We're all waiting on you."

I nodded to her and bid my farewell to the store and jogged back to my Humvee.

I pulled up behind Chase's tanker and waited for the other trucks to begin rolling on by.

To my surprise, Carlos came up beside the window and spoke.

"Nathan, I'm gonna have someone ride in the Humvee with you to act as a guide and make sure you don't do anything stupid, ok?"

"Oh yeah sure" I said surprised, "Let me just move some stuff."

The seat next to my was filled with supplies with no room for anything else. I hopped out and began taking stuff out and placing them into whatever space I could find in the trunk.

I heard the car door slam and guessed that whoever was supposed to be riding with me was already in.

I walked back into the driver's seat, not even paying attention to whomever was seating beside me.

"Hey, my name's Nathan an-" I stopped my introduction when I saw who was riding with me.

It was the girl from yesterday, the one who helped my out. You know, the _cute_ one.

"Hi" she said, biting her lip.

I was surprised to say the least, but I regained composition a second later.

"Hi...again" I smiled, "I don't think I was formally introduced" Once again extending my hand.

"Private First Class Nathan Smith, U.S Army"

She took it, now smiling, any awkwardness gone, "I'm K-mart."

I blinked, then cocked an eyebrow.

"It's a long story" She said.

The convoy started moving and my eyes returned to the road.

"Well" I started, "We've got plenty of time, a story would go nicely."

"Well in that case" She said returning one of my smiles, "it all started one rainy day

chapter 6

Black, hot, rich, fresh; those were the first things that I thought of as I brought the steamy cup of liquid to my lips.

Only to spit it all out a second later.

Gross, sick, rotten, vile; those were my next set of choice words.

"Jesus LJ, what the hell did I just drink!" I exclaimed to him, still spiting in an attempt to remove the taste from my mouth.

"What? It's just a homemade cup of joe." He said, looking slightly hurt.

"That was not a cup of coffee man, that was more like a cup of crap." I said to me then glared at Carlos who was grinning wildly.

"And what's so damn funny?" I questioned him.

"That you can't even handle a cup of raw coffee, that's what's so damn funny." He finished with a triumphant smile.

"Okay then mister tough guy, let's see you do better."

He didn't reply, instead he took a nice long gulp of; and I use this term loosely, coffee.

Carlos' eyes bulged from disgust but out of sheer will, he swallowed anyways. His face curled up into a scowl and he poured out the remaining contents of his cup.

"Told ya so." I said, not even caring to hide my smirk.

All eyes were on LJ as he stared holes into both me and Carlos.

"Man, you two just don't have good taste." He said, then took a drink from his cup.

He himself choked and seemed very surprised, then, noticing our curious faces, grumbled to himself quietly.

Carlos and I shared grins.

Just then, Mikey and Chase walked over to our circle of three out of curiosity I guess.

"Hey, what's all the yelling about?" Mikey asked.

"Just trying out LJ's coffee from hell." Carlos answered and I snickered.

"Coffee?" Both asked.

"I'll save you two the trouble; don't." I said.

The didn't listen, Mikey took my cup and took a hesitant sniff, he made a face and handed it back to me.

Chase didn't even seemed fazed by our warnings. Instead he picked up a cup, and took a slow sip.

He swished it around his mouth a bit, then swallowed. Then, he went for another, and another, until the whole mug was empty.

The rest of us stared, astonished.

"How did you do that?" I finally found my voice.

He shrugged and motioned to my cup, I gave it up, and just watched him gulp it down.

Oh god, I feel nauseous.

"How'd you make this crap anyways?" Mikey asked LJ.

He thought about it for a moment, "Uh; just mixed water, sugar, chocolate, crushed peanuts." He started, counting off his fingers along with a mental list.

"Oh yeah, and some grounded up pieces of coal." He finished.

Everyone was silent for a minute.

"Coal? As in made for fire coal?" Chase asked, disbelievingly.

"Yep."

Chase raised an eyebrow, glanced at his half empty cup, shrugged and chugged it down.

The others just rolled their eyes and I stood up.

"Where you off to?" Carlos asked me.

"Get some water and hopefully something to take the taste of crap from my mouth."

"The beer's all gone." Mikey called after my retreating form, "Finished it all yesterday."

Well ain't that just great.

I waved to let him know I heard, then walked back over to the trucks.

It's been well over a month since the convoy first found me boarded up in my own personal fortress. And it's been a rather eventful month indeed.

How so? Well take for instance how I learned that Carlos and LJ are actual survivors of the first breakout. They even claim to know who or what engineered the plague, but for some reason, they refuse to tell me or anyone else for that matter.

Weird eh?

But yeah, back to my point. It's been great being around people again, honestly I think it's helped me gaina sense of normalcy once again.

I approached the area where the rest of the convoy's parked at. This week we took shelter by yet another trucker rest stop. There was unfortunately no gas or food around anywhere, but we did find a large supply of water, turns out the water mains here are still up and running, fresh too.

I started filling up my canteen, during which I had the distinct feeling that someone was watching me, but I shrugged it off.

_Bad move Nathan, very bad move._

"Surprise!" A voice called out as I felt something drop on my head and water splash all over me.

What the hell?

Now as of right now, I was ready to crack some skulls and kick someone's ass. But then I realized something that instantly calmed me down.

I knew that voice.

"Alright, you're in trouble now K!" I playfully yelled to the one and only person who would dare push my buttons.

She is so dead!

The blonde in question instantly began a crazed dash away, straight towards the safety of the convoy vehicles. I myself started pursuit in a sprint of my own.

Without question, I was much faster.

As I caught up to her, I gently tackled her to the ground and then executed the most terrible, horrid, wickedly evil action that any zombie or fiend could not even hope to compare to.

I tickled her. A lot.

"Nathan! No! No! Please! Mercy! I Give, I Give!" She attempted to reason through breaks of breath and uncontrollable laughter.

I laughed and started to tease, "Not a chance Kmart, now what did you use?"

She started squirming and clutching her ribs in a pitiful attempt for defense, "Wh-What?" She managed to say.

"What did you use for this?" I replied, freeing one hand to point to my now soaked head.

"A water balloon! Now would you please stop!"

A water balloon? Wonder where she got that from. Oh well, back to torturing.

"I didn't hear the magic word." I continued to tease.

"I said please!"

"Wrong! It's actually Nathan is the greatest person ever." Man, aren't I conceited?

"What!" Her face was blushing like mad now, I doubted she could breath well.

"Just do it." I coolly stated.

"Fine! _Nathanisthegreatestpersonever_!" She had to say it fast from lack of air.

I smiled and released my grip allowing Kmart to catch her breath.

"You suck." She said after a moment of silence.

I grinned, "Hey, you're the one who started it."

She rolled her eyes and playfully shoved me, I grabbed her hand and fell backwards on purpose. She fell on top of me and we both started laughing until a very loud whistle ended our fun. We both glanced up to see LJ looking kinda impatient.

"Hey you two love birds! Hurry up, it's lunchtime!"

Kmart immediately glared daggers through him for the whole "love birds" comment, but I just rolled my eyes and held my hand out to help her up.

"Lunch?" I asked her.

"Duh."

Yep, just your average everyday life in the saddle.

"Are you kidding?" I asked Claire desperately, glancing back in forth between her and the now setting sun.

"Sorry Nathan" Claire said sympathetically, "But you're the only one with night vision and that makes you best qualified."

Damn, she has a point.

Not to long ago, Mikey was up and around declaring that the sentinel proximity system we have, was malfunctioning. No it wasn't just malfunctioning, it was completely and totally screwed. Rotation was messed, batteries dead, and their motion sensors were going off every minute.

So what should we do? Without those sentinels, we can't sleep securely, unknowing if a rotter was crossing our perimeter. Claire's solution? Simple, make the dude with the NVG's, yes that's right me; take the entire night watch.

Dammit, this is gonna suck.

I slumped my shoulders and nodded to Claire in defeat. She mouthed a thank you, then moved on to her hummer.

I myself headed towards my humvee, sulking over the fact that I wasn't going to have a great night tonight.

By the time the sun was almost completely set, I was entirely suited and geared up. I think I got a couple weird stares from a few people. Truthfully, I don't really think I needed all the ammo, batteries, armor, and extra attachments to my rifle. But I was gonna be alone out here tonight, not taking any chances.

"Bring on the darkness" I said to myself, boredom already settling in.

A couple times while I was still on base I think I was given a few full night graveyard watches. But I never remember it being this boring…or this frightening.

Maybe it was because I was on shift with one or two other guys, or maybe because there was no danger, no war going on.

Or maybe because there wasn't any living dead in existence who's sole purpose is to crawl up from behind me and take a chunk out of my throat.

A shiver went down my spine and I nervously checked the area behind me and the humvee thoroughly.

Nope, nothing.

Paranoia sucks.

I took in a deep breath and relaxed myself. I need to get a grip, there's nothing else out here, nothing but rocks, sand, dirt, and me.

Unfortunately, I spoke to soon, because two hands popped out of the shadows and pounced on my back.

"Christ!" I jumped up and fell off the humvee, I scuttled away, flipping on my NVG's and raising my rifle.

Only to stare up into the face of a smiling girl.

"Gotcha" Kmart grinned triumphantly.

"What the fuck K!" I nearly screamed at her, careful to not wake the others, "I could've shot you!" It was true, my rifle was aimed directly at her and my finger was on the trigger, all I needed to do was a twitch and…

"Could've, but didn't." She replied, acting as if nothing even happened.

She held out her hand to help me up and after a moments hesitation, I took it, still glaring.

"Oh lighten up" She said smiling. I just rolled my eyes, still pissed.

We stood in sour silence for about a minute, she staring at me, I avoided her eyes.

"Fine I'm sorry" She finally said, her face pulled up into a frown, "I was just trying to have a little fun, I didn't mean to upset you."

I glanced at her and saw sincerity in her eyes, Don't asked why but I got this sudden sense of guilt, she was just playing around, right?

Guess I can be too hard on her, can I? Might as well try and make amends.

"I think I might have pissed myself" I said out of the blue, falsely checking my pants.

Kmart cocked her features into a confused stare, but I caught glimpse of a small smile, which grew, and grew, and grew until it was a full pledged laugh.

At the sound of her laughter, I think I went all tingly…and I don't know whether this knowing this makes me joyful or fearful…maybe a little of both.

"Should've seen your face" Kmart broke my train of thought, "Was like you had a Z right on top of you."

"Screw you."

She just smiled and clocked me on the helmet.

"Might wanna take this off."

"Why?" I questioned.

"Because, those goggles make you look stupid." She said with a smirk.

I realized now that I was still wearing my NVG's, no wonder the world was so green.

I slid off the goggles and removed my helmet, I turned to see Kmart giving me one of those "Duh" looks.

"Whatever" I said.

We sat on the hood of the humvee and just talked for a while, mostly about stupid stuff, like our lives before…well at least my life, I had learned from Carlos that Kmart doesn't really enjoy revealing a lot about her past, and I can't say I blame her.

I had just finished telling her the story about my mom's reaction to me enlisting, when she brought up a question that I hadn't seen coming.

"Do you miss your mom?" Out of the blue she asked. Her eyes locked with mine for a second before she turned away.

I wasn't expecting her to ask that, but I answered anyways.

"Yeah. Lots." I said simply, but truthfully.

"Your dad?" She looked…sacred to ask, wonder why.

"Nope, never met him." I stated bluntly, but still 100% truthful.

"Wh-" She stopped, having second thoughts about asking.

I shook my head, "No it's fine. He died when I was still in the womb. Drunk driving accident."

She looked at the ground then to me.

"I'm Sorry."

"Don't be" I said, "It was his damn fault."

She opened her mouth to ask but I answered before she could.

"He was the drunk." I revealed, "Killed two people in the other car, paralyzed the third. Their family's lawyers caused my mother a lot of grief in the months that followed." Then I motioned to myself, "And then I came along."

To tell the truth, I hate telling this story, no I mean I _really_ hate this story. But for some strange reason, I just wanted to get this off my chest, and it actually made me feel better doing so.

"What about you, do you miss yours?" I asked, hesitant to do so though, this conversation was on thin ice right now.

She started nibbling on her lip furiously out of discomfort and I immediately regretted asking her.

_Dammit Nathan, you stupid retard._

"Did you…did you ever find out what happened…to your mom?" She asked me, possibility to dodge my last question.

I nodded and broke eye contact, deep in thought.

"When I first enlisted, the country was still in the early days of infection." I started my tale, "Nobody knew what was going on, we all saw news reports of rioting and panic. National Guard sent out to restore order, the president declared Marshall Law on affected areas, everything was going to shit. Mom thought there was going to be a civil war on home soil, can you believe that?" I asked Kmart who's eyes were locked in with my, focused on the story.

"Yeah." Was all she said.

"See? Well anyways; The two of us weren't to worried on it though. The chaos was at least a few states away. There was no chance that it would really effect us." I smiled grimly, "Oh the irony."

"My mom's boyfriend, Mark Grant, he was a doctor, well he had told us about how hospitals around the state were being filled up and to capacity with injured patients. There was always something dealing with a rabid person, or a crazed homeless person. Each, involving one thing; _bites_."

I saw Kmart shiver and realized just how cold my voice sounded.

"So what happened?" She asked through the silence.

"Well" I started in thought, "Nothing for awhile really. It wasn't until I left for basic that odd stuff was happening around my hometown."

"Like?" Kmart asked, full interest on the tale.

"The first letter I got from my mom said that there were disappearances all over the place. First it started with pets, then the homeless, and eventually neighbors." I said, rethinking my past over.

"The second letter I received from her was a bit unnerving; apparently when Mark went to work earlier in the week, a crazed patient bit him."

Kmart's eyes went wide as she realized where this story was going.

"This event really spooked mom out, told me that she and Mark were going to stay at her sister's house. My Aunt Karen lived in New Mexico, far from the holocaust that was taking place. They were going to leave come Friday. I didn't give it a second thought."

I paused for a moment but Kmart stayed silent, out of respect I guess.

"Then it happened, the officers at base crowded us around in the barracks to brief us on something important." I sighed, "And then they dropped the bomb, they told us everything they knew. What we were up against, how to kill them, they even informed us on the fact that the infected didn't even have a pulse. They didn't use the term zombie, but the thoughts were swimming in my head and everyone else in my unit. The brass didn't have any clue _exactly_ how it spread yet, but they did know that it was highly infectious and with a 100% mortality rate." I subconsciously brought my hand into a fist, the memories still fresh in my mind like it was yesterday.

"They showed us a video, it was an autopsy conducted by the CDC. Everything was going well until a guy removed the heart. A second later, the body sprang to life, tore off the mask of one of the doctors and bit down on his chin. I'll never forget the look in the poor bud's face as the undead gripped him…or when he released a high pitched scream of pain and surprise."

Kmart silently whispered a "God" before she ushered me to continue. I smiled slightly before starting up again.

"So yeah, that was an eventful day. And I'm sure that I would tell mom everything about it next time mail comes around."

I frowned grimly, "Only problem was, when mail call finally came, there was nothing for me. I figured it was because mom was still settling in up by my Aunt's. But the week after; there was nothing for me. I started panicking and asked my DI about it." I felt something grip my hand and realized Kmart held it in hers. I gave her a small smile, gulped and continued. "I wasn't ready for his answer. The city; my hometown, was hit by the infection and swarmed by the undead. He said it all happened on May 14, Thursday…one day before mom was supposed to leave town." My voice was grim, emotionless.

I felt her grip on my hand squeeze as to comfort, it helped a lot actually.

"My mom was six months pregnant." I suddenly blurted out quietly. I had promised myself to never let that detail out…but something about Kmart just relaxed me, and a voice told me, just spoke in my head: _It's okay, let her know, it's okay to let it out_.

And so I did.

Kmart's reaction wasn't what I expected. I was thinking there would be some silence as a respect and then it would just get awkward. But no, instead, she pulled me in and hugged me, a heartfelt hug for me.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered and then we pulled apart.

The silence came then, but it wasn't awkward, no it was more like a break, a simple break from discussion, a chance to think of something to say.

"It's Dahlia." She said out of nowhere.

I blinked, then turned to her, confusion written all over my face.

"What?" I ask

She's blushing like mad, it was cute, "My name, my_ real_ name, it's Dahlia."

It took me a minute, but then I got it.

_Her name you idiot! She's telling you her real name, she never told anybody it before!_

_Play. It. Cool._

That voice in my head is a real ass.

I stayed silent for a moment, Kmart's eyes intent on me.

"Well" I finally spoke, "I guess you were right to change your name."

"Really?" She asked surprised.

"Oh yeah" I said grinning, "Dahlia sounds so stupid!"

"Nathan!" She said with a look of mock hurt and slapped my arm playfully.

I laughed and held my shoulder as if I was in pain.

I guess that means the serious conversations are over.

"Hey K?" I asked as we laid across the hood of my humvee

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you come out?" What? I was curious.

"Huh?" She asked, clearly puzzled.

"I mean, why'd you come out. Out here; with me, by the humvee.

She sat up from laying down on the hood, silent for the moment, probably thinking of the right thing to say.

"I don't know" she answered quietly, "Some nights I just have trouble sleeping. If I stay in the trucks, I'd just toss and turn all night."

"So you instead take a walk outside?" I asked.

She smiled timidly, "Well…sometimes I just like to stare up at the stars." She pauses to glance up and I follow her gaze.

"It just calms and relaxes me I guess." She finished, then laid back down.

I nodded understandingly, not sure what to say. So instead, I just stayed silent as both lay, relaxed and tired; staring up into the night sky.

The two of us sat like that for a while, until my eyelids became heavy and the world became all but a blur.

I vaguely remember Kmart going limp and resting her head against my shoulder before I lost consciousness all together.

A voice woke me from my slumber.

"Nathan. Hey Nathan? Soldier boy, get up."

I cracked an eye open and the unforgiving glare of the sun blinded me for a minute.

It took a bit until my eyes readjusted and I met a stare with Claire.

"Oh good, awake now?" She asked, slightly annoyed.

It all hit me full force then. I was supposed to keep watch! Not fall asleep, I put the whole convoy in danger!

"Oh man Claire, I'm sor-" I attempted to apologize put she put a hand up to silence me.

"Don't." She said, "I'll let it slide for now. But don't let it happen again." She was being merciful, I should feel grateful.

"Now take her back to our truck. A car hood isn't the best place for sleep." She said, pointing at something behind me.

No, not something; someone.

I turned to see Kmart asleep beside me, clutching my arm and using it for a pillow.

I chuckled, and the events of last night came swooshing through my head.

"Take a nap yourself." Claire said, breaking my train of thought. "We're moving out today and I don't need you passing out behind the wheel."

I nodded a thankful smile which Claire returned and walked off, leaving my attention to the young girl sleeping beside me.

I picked Kmart up bridal style and started carrying her over to the yellow hummer, careful not to wake her.

For a sixteen year old, she wasn't that heavy, I didn't strain or anything.

I reached the lead hummer and carefully set Kmart down on the back seats. I removed my BDU over-shirt and draped it over her body as a blanket. Satisfied that she was snug and cozy, I shut the door as silent and delicately as I could, then walked back over to my humvee

chapter 7

3...2...1 Breaching!" I said as coolly and professional as possible as I kicked down the door and stepped aside as Carlos and LJ stormed through. I followed suit, taking the right flank and scanned the area nearby for any signs of hostiles.

"Front clear." Carlos said in front of us three.

"Right clear." I said, confirming that there was nothing on my side.

"God you two are tight asses." LJ muttered, probably rolling his eyes.

Carlos and I broke out of our serious trance and glared over at LJ who seemed quite amused by our annoyance.

"Just had to ruin it, didn't you?" I said to him, a frown evident on my face.

LJ seemed quite proud of himself actually, "Oh yeah, you guys sounded like real idiots just now."

"Looks who's talking." Carlos scoffed, shaking his head, "Come on, we have a job to do."

That we do. Claire has found a great place to set up camp for the week, some half-ass built farm in the middle of scenic nowhere, Utah. There's a water tower, a big farm shed and a two story house. Everything else was clear of all life signs, dead or otherwise, so our all we have to do is clear out the home.

Woopy Friggin Doo.

Anyone with eyes and ears would realize now that I'm a bit pissed and irritable. Why? You might asked, well the answer is simple.

Kmart.

The two of us have been pissed off at each other for nearly a month now. One can't even have the two of us in the same room together without a war breaking out.

Truth be told, I don't even remember why we started fighting. I'm pretty sure it began with something really stupid, some argument that had no significance what so ever. It took off from there, became more intense until insults started being slung towards each other, then it blew up into a full blown hatred.

I know it's a real shitty way to end a friendship but there's nothing I could do, I sure as hell can't apologize, I've already said too many harsh words, and I doubt Kmart would accept it anyways.

I shook my head clear of Kmart and any other thoughts dealing with us and our current status.

"LJ, you go kitchen. Nathan, upstairs. I'll take the back and cellar. Go!" Carlos laid out his plan and motioned us to action.

"Alright, _boss_." LJ added emphasis on the word "boss" for humor. I rolled by eyes and nodded to Carlos in acknowledgement.

The pair left my field of vision as I moved forward, up the wooden staircase that seemed to creak and snap every single step I took. It perfected the eerie flow of the house and only fueled my anxiety.

There were three total rooms in the space upstairs. Two on both right and left sides and one bathroom at the end of a very long fucking hallway.

I took the right room first, I kicked down the door to let whatever was on the other side know that I was coming through.

_What the-_

Green was my first impression, the walls, ceiling, hell even the carpet. All green.

Then I noticed the characteristics of the room. A big TV set on a dresser, a dusty Nintendo Wii set up to it. Next to the dresser was a single small sized bed, draped in Spongebob Squarepants sheets…oh so what if I know who Spongebob is! That guy was my childhood idol

I stepped over the dozens of toys which littered the ground; I crushed a plastic tank beneath my boot and eyed the mini army men who were having their own little imaginary war on the floor.

I chuckled, "Oh the irony." I spoke to myself as I shined the flashlight attached to my rifle towards the closet, filling the dark space with light.

_Nothing, the room is clear._

Before I stepped out, I took a look back at the room, my mind wandering towards what happened to the obvious child who lived in this room.

I lingered on that for a few seconds, then, walked away completely.

_I don't really wanna find out._ I mentally said to myself as I checked the second room.

It was the master bedroom, but a simple one. A queen sized bed, couple dressers, TV and another closet.

I checked the closet, and like the last, it was clear.

"Two down, one to go." I muttered to myself as I started for the door, but a sight stopped me where I stood. Right on the top of one of the dressers, a small white box.

I grinned and walked towards the dresser. It was covered from head to toe in dust, I blew it all off and took a look at the small item.

It was a pack of cigarettes. See in post-apocalyptic times, a box of smokes was like gold to the members of the convoy.

this packet will make our next poker night a very interesting one in my favor

Satisfied, I finally exited the bedroom and headed for the nearby bathroom.

It was dark and dusty, smelled, no windows, and was pretty cramped. Basically, a real piece of crap bathroom.

My attention was then drawn to the shower curtain that hid the remainder of the room. I reached for it, my common sense was screaming at me to do otherwise, but I didn't listen.

I nearly hurled when I saw what was behind the curtains.

Hundreds of roaches, god forsaken cockroaches! A whole friggin bathtub full of them, all crawling and creeping along…god, it sent serious shivers down my spine.

"Gross…" I said aloud to nobody.

Unfortunately, "nobody" just happened to hear me.

Suddenly, the mass of the roaches lifted from the tub and made a lunged towards me. I jumped back and nearly wet myself as dozens of the little grubs went flying and squirmed on the floor.

"What the hell!" I exclaimed in shock, fear and disbelief as I raised my rifle at the form that came from the roach-bath.

The hundred or so bugs who made the form seemed to sense their predicament and jumped off the shape, allowing me to stare back in horror.

It was a zombie, a fucking ghoul! God knows just how long the bastard was laying in there, but it sure showed from his advanced decomposition.

There were literally holes all over his body, swarms of roaches pouring out of each visible opening. He no longer had any eyes, they were picked clean and his empty sockets were just used as nests for maggots that squirmed and wiggle.

How the hell can he see me?

…Screw it

I bit my lip and swallowed back down my bile as I pulled the rifle's trigger and a three round burst tore the rotter's head clean off.

"What was that? What happened?" A voice, Carlos, said over the walkie-talkies.

"Nathan? Was that you man?" LJ called after for me.

I didn't reply, no I was to busy puking my guts out when I finally caught the sight of swarms of grubs that slithered out of the dark brown stump that had once been the zombie's head.

Well there goes my appetite…for the next week.

"Any luck?" I asked Mikey as he fiddled with the radios, searching for some sort of sign of survivors.

"No dice." He said grimly, then, turned to one of the monitors in the back of his van and frowned at the sight of static.

"More good news?" I asked humorously.

"Unfortunately." He said with a shrug, "Sentinels are screwed over, looks like you're doing graveyard shift tonight."

"Oh boy, can't wait." I replied, sarcasm rich.

Mikey just shook his head.

"Good luck." he called after me as I stepped out of his news van and headed towards my humvee.

I still had at least an hour before lights out, so I picked up my rifle and began disassembling it.

It was a chore that I did at least five times a day. The M16 required it to be cleaned thoroughly and regularly, plus there's pretty much nothing else to do around here…

I had laid a carpet on the dirt and organized all of the rifle's parts in a system, so I started cleaning each part with a wet rag, a slow, tedious job but a great way to past the time.

While this was going on, I failed to notice the figure walking up to my crouched form until it was to late.

A foot kicked out and all the parts of my rifle were buried under much dust and sand.

Give you three guesses who caused this.

"Whoops! Sorry, didn't see you there" Kmart mocked an apology with a smile, then continued walking on.

"Wouldn't have happened it you didn't paint your fucking eyes shut!" So what if I stole a joke from "The Faculty"? I love that movie and that line comes in handy when dealing with a girl who wears _way_ to much make-up.

Exhibit A: Kmart.

She spun around in an instant, anger boiling within her from my little joke. She started swearing, cussing me out, insults everywhere from "Your mom" to racial slurs…which in my opinion, doesn't even make any sense.

It went on for a little bit more, we exchanged insults over and over until I called her a "bipolar hag" and she entered another "swear as much as you can" moments.

Only this time, I was smiling when the insults came, and that smile grew bigger and bigger until I started laughing hysterically.

I don't even know why I thought it was funny. Kmart was screaming and, even though I hate to admit it, her insults hurt and stung.

I guess it was just the idea of her being this angry at me, that I thought it wasn't real, c_ouldn't_ have been real, so I thought it was humorous. I really didn't mean to piss her off, but when she realized that I wasn't taking her seriously…well, then things got kinda out of control.

She insulted me and family harshly, and I mean _harshly_. I think she said something along the lines of "Your mom is happy she's dead, cause now she won't have to see just how pathetic you turned out to be." And more insults following along with that.

This was it, my patience was over.

I sure as hell wasn't smiling or laughing anymore, nope, I had snapped.

I. Was. Pissed.

I looked her dead in the eyes and brought my voice as low as it could possibly get and growled at her, "You shut the hell up about my family!" My hiss was quiet but vicious, I think I saw her take a step back.

"You are one cold, shallow bitch _Dahlia_" I used her real name as both an insult and to prove that I wasn't fucking around any more.

"And everyone in this convoy knows it" I continued my rant, "Soon, they will also know just exactly how ignorant and superficial of a bitch you really are, and then-" I never got to finish, because Kmart brought her hand forward and slapped me across the face. Hard.

She paused for a second, shocked at what she'd just done, then, started walking away. She got a few feet before stopping and turning back to look me straight in the eye.

"Nathan" Her voice was calm, cool, but irregular, "I-I…I hope you die. I hope you die in the most horrible and gruesome way possible. And when you do, I'm going to laugh…and-" she stopped, broke eye contact, and then, turned tail and ran towards the other trucks.

My mind lingered on her for a full four seconds before my mind screamed at me, _Screw it, who the hell cares about her? She could rot for all we care._

I agreed with my mind on this matter. I started cleaning my rifle a _second_ time, ignoring the confused, curious and worried stares everyone else in the convoy was giving me.

There were three of us on watch tonight, Claire made it an official rule that three was the magic number. Probably due to the fact that I passed out my first night out, right on the hood of my truck, just me…and Kmart.

I shook my head clear of any thoughts about her. I had to stop think about her, our friendship was guaranteed to be over after what just occurred a few hours ago.

I subconsciously poked at the meatloaf that came with my pack of MRE, I had lost my appetite a while ago, the food got even colder than it was when I first opened the bag.

I sighed and offered the food to one of the guys who was out with me, he at first raised an eyebrow, but then gladly accepted the horrible tasting military food.

Guess meatloaf is a rarity nowadays.

I decided to take a long walk away from the others, I just needed some time to clear my head, and all the company wasn't doing me much good.

I walked around for about a good ten minutes, by then, I was a fair distance away from the convoy. I turned my head and attempted to catch sight of them, but through the darkness I couldn't see very far, I had forgotten to bring my NVGs out tonight and now was paying the price. I could barely make out a dozen yards of sight, that wasn't good.

I was too busy squinting my eyes, searching for any sight of the convoy to hear the sounds of approaching footsteps until something called out with a growl.

A deep, hungry, animalistic growl.

I immediately brought my rifle to bear and spun my head around, what came to view wasn't a pretty sight.

I recognized them instantly; coyotes. Wild, crazed, hungry zombified coyotes.

_Oh shit_

There were four of them, even when undead they hunted in a pack. They all locked eyes with mine, and I seriously almost pissed myself.

I slowly and carefully began backing up, one step at a time, my eyes never leaving the pack of rotting canines. I was surprised they haven't made a move yet.

_They must remember their animal instincts from when they were alive_. That last thought chilled me to the bone…but not as much as the sound that pierced the silent darkness.

_Crack_

A stick, I stepped on a fucking stick!

The coyotes took this as a hint and exploded into a sprint in an attempt to rush me.

I sighted my target, the lead dog, and choked my rifle's trigger.

A burst shot propelled from the barrel and struck the pack lead. He flew back from the impact and collided with two of his teammates.

I frowned when his body began flopping up and off the ground, he maybe stunned but wasn't dead, crap.

"Headshot, go for the head." I said under my breath as I took a knee and aimed at the only mutt still rushing forth. The small red dot in my scope followed his form until it lined up with his jaw.

I saw his head explode into a gusher of blood as my shot was deemed lucky and precise.

However by now, The other three were up and running by the time I had taken the shot and one was only a few feet ahead of me.

As he lunged, I smashed his form away with the butt of my rifle, a satisfying "_Snap"_ echoed through the fight. My smile was short-lived however as another coyote dove for a shot at my neck.

He instead, bit hard into the cold metal of my rifle as I used the weapon to deflect his strike.

I swung to the right and succeeded in shaking the dog off but at the cost of loosing the grip on my rifle.

No rest for the weary though, as the last canine made an attempt at me, I kicked him away then, jumped up and sprinted away, simultaneously unholstering by M9 pistol and flipping the safety off.

I ran as hard and fast as my body allowed, every muscle in my arms and legs ached and demanded to rest, but I kept sprinting. Never before had I ran this fast before, never in my life.

It wasn't enough.

I turned for a split second and saw that the canines were already following, and gaining considerable ground in their chase.

I spun towards them, running backwards now, and aimed through my pistol's iron sights.

I fired off maybe five rounds, and once again luck seemed to be on my side. The nearest pooch collapsed on the ground and didn't get back up. I turned my attention to the final pair and proceeded to empty my clip towards the two.

I struck one in the leg and nearly severed it. He fell helplessly into the dirt and tried to get back up, only to fall once again.

The leader coyote was nearly on top of me now, I had no time to reload, I quickly dropped my pistol with one hand and unsheathed my bayonet with the other.

The dog jumped and I dove, I managed to clutch his neck, stopping any chance of him biting me. We wrestled on the ground, he continued to try to take a chunk out of me, almost succeeded too. He nearly reached my neck before his teeth became tangled with the chain of my exposed dog tags, he tore them off and I swore. The fighting continued for a second before I buried my knife deep within his chest.

The adrenaline was going to my head, I missed my chance at his brain and only wounded him, my grip faltered, I dropped the knife and kicked the zombie hound square in the face.

I jumped back on my feet and ran for dear life. I could hear separate gunfire now, the convoy must be awake and under attack as well.

If only I stayed at my post…

My weapons were gone, I had nothing except my fist and a couple grenades. My mind quickly went over the million possibilities for what to do right now. After a second, I had made a decision, a crazy one yes, but it's better than nothing.

I glanced behind me, the pair was steadily catching up, even despite the wound and a missing leg, they continued to give chase.

I got to admit, the undead haveamazing resolve.

I looked ahead and spotted a deep ditch, I smiled, "Perfect!"

Used all my remaining strength and pushed my legs to the limit as I reached into my combat harness and retrieved a M67 frag grenade, pulled the pin and held the safety lever.

At the base of the ditch I turned and faced the music. The two were close and continuing to get closer.

"_Gotta time it just right" _I mentally reminded myself.

The first coyote rushed me, it was Mr. No-Foot, I swatted him away and locked eyes with the wounded pack leader.

I sidestepped him and brought a foot down hard on his back, he flipped over and I saw what I was praying for, his exposed and torn belly. I released the grenade's lever and dove my hand deep within the canine's open stomach.

My hand came back out covered with a sickening browning-red liquid…but was absent of the grenade.

I quickly sprinted away heading for the ditch and desperately took a dive forward.

_Four…_

The two hounds were up by now and started towards me.

_Three…_

They ran along together, a very dangerous few feet behind me.

_Two…_

I hit the ground and looked up to see them jump forth, side by side.

_One…_

Without warning, The pack leader suddenly imploded into nothing but an organic matter cloud. His companion was shredded to ribbons by flying shrapnel.

The concussion wave from the blast hit me a millisecond later and I instantly lost consciousness.

My final thought was what would Kmart say when she found out that her death wish on me had come true

I then welcomed the blackness that quickly consumed me.

My eyes cracked open and the sight of the starry night sky met my stare.

"What…the hell." I croaked, my throat was dry, sore, and sounded horrible.

I bit my tongue and then sat up from my previous position, my muscles ached and my nerves were going insane.

"_Déjà vu" _I thought to myself, memories of my previous "Sewer Adventure" filling my mind.

I took a couple minutes for a break, giving my muscles a rest and cleaned off any dirt or dried blood that stained my BDU before I fully surveyed my surroundings.

The two dogs chasing me were gone, blown to smithereens by the grenade…which strangely did not even touch me at all.

I crawled out of the ditch and checked the area. No sign of any more undead: human, dog or otherwise.

I quickly limped my way back the way I came, I eventually came across my pistol laying in the dirt. I brushed it off, loaded a fresh magazine, then continued forward, safety off and finger on the trigger.

I conducted a search for my rifle, but couldn't find any sight of it. After a good ten to fifteen minutes, I finally gave up and headed back to camp.

When I arrived, I realized that they hadn't fared much better.

There was a large pile of undead coyotes set ablaze and burning through the midnight darkness. I estimated at lest twenty and gave a short whistle that hurt my throat a bit, but the slight humor helped lighten me up.

I was heading for Claire's hummer when I passed by the ambulance. Nurse Betty clearly had her hands full trying to help give medical aid to multiple wounded convoy members.

I also passed by a row of makeshift body bags, no doubt those who were lost tonight

There were over a dozen.

Without a word, I crossed myself and continued on towards the others.

When I reached the hummer, the convoy leaders, as I liked to call them, was grouped together in a small huddle and speaking quietly. I could also hear soft whimpering but shrugged it off as a wounded person.

Nobody had noticed my by now, so I decided to make my presence known.

"Does anyone know where I put my helmet?" I spoke, the humor was out of place but I didn't care, I needed someway to lighten up.

Carlos was first to realize it was me, his eyes opened wide, surprised but then gave way to a small smile.

As the others turned to notice me, I heard LJ mutter a "Oh shit." and I cocked an eyebrow, but I immediately straightened my face with the next person to step forth from the group.

Kmart had been crying, that was the first thing I noticed, secondly, she was clutching a pair of dog tags, _my_ dog tags tightly between her fingers. I didn't get a chance to notice a third detail because Kmart rushed towards me and pulled me into an unbreakable embrace. Her head fell against my shoulder and I could feel hot, fresh tears staining my uniform.

I can't even imagine what I could've look like right then and there. My facial expression was probably unforgettable. By the looks on everyone else's faces, it was most likely very stupid and funny.

Or maybe this moment was just really cute.

Probably a little of both.

The others started to break away and walk off, giving us some privacy. Carlos stayed behind and pulled something out of the truck.

It was my rifle, he set in out on the hood of the hummer, gave me a wink then walked off, leaving me alone with Kmart.

It hit me then and there the reason my rifle was missing and why Kmart held my dog tags; everyone had thought I died. They must've searched the area where I fought the pack, found my equipment and labeled me KIA. They must have passed right by the ditch I had blacked out in.

My thoughts ended as Kmart started to sob and shake, I freed one of my hands and started to stroke her hair softly, to comfort her.

"I'm sorry" The crying paused and her voice cracked, "I'm so sorry."

Sorry? What was she sorry for?

Oh yeah, the fights, the insults, the…death wish…

_Apologize idiot! Those fights were your fault too!_

"No Kmart, _I'm _the one who should be sorry." With the advice of the voice in my head, I started my own apology. "Those fights were my fault, the things I said…" Kmart cut me off before I could finish.

"But I wished you were _dead!_" She sniffled, her crying had ceased and she attempted to regain the apology. "I wanted you dead Nathan! And thanks to me, you could've…could've-" This time I cut her off as I used my free hand to gently raise her chin to met my eyes. Her eyes were red and puffy from all the tears but they still widened considerably at my words.

"Yes _could've, _but no, I'm still here, I'm still here K." I said softly, "I didn't die, I'm completely fine. When we fought, you were just angry, you said some stuff that you didn't mean, I did the same." Her sniffling and shaking had stopped altogether, her attention was all on me.

"Please Kmart…can't we just forget about it? What's done is done. I'm sorry, you're sorry; can't we end it at that?" I pleaded, my eyes never left contact with hers.

"And…start over?" She replied silently.

I smiled slightly, then wiped a single tear from off her face.

"Of course" I answered, she smiled warmly and then rested her head on my shoulder.

No more words were spoken that night. The two of us just spent it in each other's arms, in the other's embrace, silent and content.

I determined three things that night.

One: That Kmart cared about me.  
>Two: That I cared for Kmart.<br>And Three: I have no bloody clue what's to happen from here on in. The chances of me making it through this are very slim…

You know what? Screw it, I'm 100% determined to make it out of this alive.

And do you want to know why?

Well because, as of tonight, I now have a motivation

chapter 8

I took a deep breath and locked eyes with my rivals across the table. LJ to my left, Carlos to my right, and Otto directly in front of me. Mikey, Chase and a few other gathered around us as spectators.

My eyes diverted from the others and instead down to my hands, I concentrated on the thin slates of paper that I held between my fingers. A small smile formed on my face as I registered the faded pictures that decorated the small slips of paper.

_Perfect_

I pretty much slammed my palm down on the table and grinned a full shit eating grin, as I lifted my hand, I saw Carlos catch sight of the contents that I held and saw his face slightly pale.

I continued to grin and my eyes traveled down to the cards that I laid face up on the table.

Ace of Clubs

Ace of Clovers

Ace of Hearts

4 Diamond

4 Clover

I had a Full House

There were a collection of whoops and a few claps, I saw LJ swore and joined Carlos in tossing out their poker hands. I laughed triumphantly and met Otto's gaze.

He was smiling.

"What's so funny?" I questioned a bit confused, then regained my wit. "The fact that I just kicked your ass?"

Otto shook his head and lowered his hand down on the table, "Nope" he said as my eyes glanced towards his set of cards. "The fact that _I _just kicked _your_ ass!"

His cards consisted of a 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 of Hearts.

He had a Straight Flush.

I did get my ass kicked

My face fell and the whole collection of spectators laughed their asses off. Carlos just shook his head and LJ gave Otto a high five while his face was red from laughter.

"And the moral of the story" said Otto as he collected his winnings from the poker game, "Never gloat about being an ass."

"Isn't that exactly what you're doing right now?" I countered.

"Perhaps…but it's okay since I was just giving you a taste of your own medicine." Otto shrugged.

"You bitch." Was my replied as I stood up ready to leave.

"Where you off to?" Mikey asked, still grinning from my defeat.

"Take a walk, maybe clean my rifle." I motioned over to the others at the table, "These guys cleaned me out"

"You be careful out there" Otto laughed, still savoring his victory, "Wouldn't want you to get bit by a zomboid"

Once before in the past, the convoy had a argument over what was the correct way to classify the legions of undead that now roam the Earth.

Myself and a few others had suggested the term "Zombie." It was short, sweet and to the point.

But no, apparently zombie just doesn't cut it. Nope, the term zombie just can't be taken seriously, not even when the evidence is happening right in front of your own eyes.

Zombies were and are forever to be labeled "fictional". These things, the things that rise from death and shamble the planet for the flesh of the living were real. It was just by mere coincidence that they have the same characteristics of a zombie.

So by giving them the term Zomboids: a being that shares similar traits to that of a fictional undead zombie, it makes them sound so much more scientific and proper.

Honestly, there's enough bullshit there to fill a pool.

"If I do, you're going to be the first to get killed by me." I called out to him as I walked away.

Surprisingly enough, Salt Lake City wasn't as infested as any of us thought, sure there was one swarm and the occasional Z here or there, but other than that, nothing. We set up camp in a residential neighborhood in the outskirts of the city, the town was rundown and part of it was covered by sand though, it reminded me once again that this virus not only kills life but the also kills the planet itself.

I guess Al Gore was right…kinda

As I walked, I passed Claire's hummer on my way and decided to drop by.

"Sup" I asked as I poked my head through the side window.

Claire had her focus on a map of what I guess is the state of Utah when I dropped in, she set the map down and sighed.

"Just trying to figure out where we are heading to next" she said while rubbing her temples stressfully.

"Not as easy as it sounds I take it"

"You have no idea…she's not here you know" Claire said and I raised my brow.

"What? Who?" I questioned, clueless.

"Kmart." Claire stated simply.

I frowned, "Since when am I only going around, looking for K?"

Claire had a slight smirk on her face, "Well if that's not the case, then what are you doing over here?"

"Uh" I stuttered and her smirk grew, "Oh shut up!" I said for I couldn't think of anything else to say.

Claire shook her head and pulled out a small box, after checking the box's contents, her features pulled up into a scowl and she threw the container out the window.

"Dammit" She muttered

"Something wrong?" I asked

"No smokes" Was her reply, frown evident.

I thought for a moment then searched through my pants pockets, eventually I found what I was looking for, a fresh pack of cigarettes I found before.

"Here" I said tossing them over to Claire, who caught them, surprised.

She looked at the pack wide eyed, "Where'd you get these?"

"Found' em" I lied, while we were playing poker, LJ pissed me off so I stole a pack of smokes from him. It wasn't mean, it was revenge.

Claire mumbled a thanks and quickly tore open the box and lit a cancer-stick, she took a deep breath and seemed to savor the smoke immensely.

As she continued to ruin her lungs, my eyes darted around for sight of something to catch my interest.

Or more like someone.

"So…" I started, "If she's not here, then where?"

Claire looked up from her smoke and released a sly smile.

"Please don't, just answer the question"

She nodded amused.

"She said she was going out to look for some electrical wire"

I raised an eyebrow, "Electrical Wire?"

Claire shrugged, "She likes using wire to make her charm bracelets."

Another brow raised, "Why's she making another one? Doesn't she have like ten?"

Claire had on one of those smiles that said "I know something you don't!"

"Why don't you ask her?" She motioned toward my humvee and I opened my mouth to question, but shook it off and started towards my truck.

As I neared, Kmart jumped out of my humvee, how she got a key to unlock it, I'll never know.

"Hi" she said cheerfully.

"Hey" I said, "Were you waiting for me?"

She bit her lip and suddenly the ground became very interesting for her.

"mmhmm" she mumbled quietly. "I kinda, uh, got you…something"

My eyes widen and my mouth curled into a smile.

"Really?" I chuckled

That chuckle must have lifted Kmart's spirits, she looked up to meet my eyes and smiled herself.

"Yep, let me see your wrist." I stuck it out and she took it, then started to fiddle with something, overlapping it on my wrist. In a minute, she was done and I got view of what she had given to me.

It was a bracelet, one of her custom made wire bracelets. This one was decorated with three separate colors, Green, Red, and Blue, all spaced out in a square like pattern.

Out of all the colors in the rainbow, those three were my favorites. How did she know…?

"Whoa" I said finally I looked towards Kmart who was literally holding her breath, nervously awaiting my reaction.

I smiled and opened my arms wide for a hug, she accepted and I felt her release her nervous breath.

"I made it…for luck" She said

"Luck? For what?" I asked

She pulled out of the hug a little bit so that there was eye contact.

"Well duh" she said smirking but then her voice went soft, "There's a lot of dangers out there. I just…I don't want to see you get…" Kmart's voice failed her and I pulled her into another hug, this one a bit tighter than the last.

"I won't" I reassured her, "There's no need to worry"

"Promise?" Her voice was…dammit, there was just something there! In her voice, something that just made me want to breakdown and cry my eyes out.

Jesus Nathan, you have it bad, really, really bad.

"I promise" I answered and her head raised, our eyes locked, and suddenly our faces began to close the distance between. My head lowered and I couldn't stop it, we're just barley inches apart now…

_Oh god, thank you! Thank yo-_

"NATHAN!" A very pissed off voice called forth and broke the two of us from our trance. Kmart jumped away blushing like mad and I think I felt my legs shake.

"YOU DICK!" I looked behind us and found LJ rushing towards me. I guess he found out about the stealing incident.

"Perfect fucking timing" I muttered to myself and then looked to Kmart.

"Sorry, gotta go." I apologized

"It's ok" She said with a forced smile, I could tell it was a fake smile, she was…disappointed.

I couldn't dwell on the thought for long since LJ had just about reached me by then. I started running, and surprisingly enough, I was faster.

Once before, I found out that LJ was one of the fastest runners in the whole convoy. How I was able to beat him, was a miracle.

_Or maybe… _I thought as I gazed down at my wrist, towards the my new charm bracelet.

I grinned, "I guess luck pays off!" I said aloud to myself, then waved over to Kmart who returned the greeting and just watched the chase take place.

"Hey LJ" I said, grinning

"What?" He growled

"Race you to the fence over there and back!" I laughed, "1, 2, 3, Go!"

chapter 9

"Alright gentlemen, what we got?"

"Motel, complete with restaurant, gift shop, and best of all, a gas station."

"Sweet. Mind if I see those?"

"Knock yourself out."

"… Looks quiet."

"Yeah, ain't they always?"

"Claire, looks clear, shall we go in?"

"_It's your call boys."_

"Nathan, LJ, you guys ready?"

"Yeah."

"All set."

"Come on, let's go"

"Let's do it."

"Hooah."

"_Desert Trail Motel,_ huh?", muttered LJ as he stared towards a sign, "Truer motherfuckin' words…"

The motel was run down, extremely so. Sand and dust seemed to cover most of the structure, it was just like half of the places we went to. As Claire put and I quote, "The desert is taking it back."

The three of us approached the motel's main entrance, upon further inspection, the front doors were gone, ripped from it's hinges, not a very good sign.

Carlos paused in step for a moment before he turned around to face me and spoke.

"Nathan, loop around the back, see if you find anything."

"Gotcha." I said, jogging off and around the building, eventually I stumbled upon a back parking lot, there, I found a rear entrance and radioed in my findings to Carlos.

"Okay, me and LJ will head in through our way, you enter through the back, we'll cover more ground this way." He spoke his orders through the radio.

"Wilco, out." I acknowledged him before entering through the old, rusty entry way.

The door creaked loudly as I walked into dark and dusty looking office space, I figured it to be an employee lounge. I shone my rifle mounted flashlight onto a fallen figure sprawled out on the floor.

It was a corpse, a dead body, a "dead" dead one. His face had been smashed in, skull crushed. From all the tossed and thrown chairs scattered around the room, must've been quite the struggle.

Deciding that I had investigated enough, I walked off, leaving the body and the lounge behind. Unfortunately, I barely made it one foot out the door when several separate claps of pistol fire caught hold of my attention.

Fearing the worst, I immediately sprung into action and sprinted out of the room and into the main lobby, and running into Carlos on the way. As we both glanced at each other, the realization then dawned on me.

"LJ…!" I spoke in panic and the fear drew on my companion's face also.

Even though LJ was tough and a good shot, he simply lacked the training me and, I'm almost certain, Carlos has. Not saying he can't defend himself…but it's just it bit more reassuring when you're trained for this kinda shit.

"Come on, this way!" Carlos called out to me, disappearing down through one of the dark hallways with me following. The sound of yet another gunshot induced me to run faster.

We then came across a long, stretching corridor with several rows of doors, each one more or so identical to the last.

"Which one?" I panicked to Carlos while he looked over the possibilities.

Without saying a word, Carlos jumped forward, simultaneously raising his MP7 and blew through one of the doors. I followed, reaching the same exact door just in time to see a three round burst strike the back of a zombie's head. LJ, who was beneath the ghoul, sat up wide eyed and frightened, but then calmed when he saw it was us.

"What happened? Everyone okay?" From the radio, Claire's concerned voice broke through the chaos.

Carlos lowered his weapon and raised the speaker to his lips, "Yeah, it's all clear."

The two of us then walked into the room, LJ looked up, exhausted.

"The fuck you two been yo?" He asked, still out of breath and I grinned in response. If LJ swore, it meant he was okay.

"Oh you know," I replied humorously, "Just enjoying the scenery."

"We figured you could handle it" said Carlos who was busy viewing shards of broken glass scattered on the floor. "The Mirror piss you off?"

"Nah man" He replied, then pointed towards a fallen zombie on the floor, "This asshole was reflected in it, I thought they wasn't supposed to have reflections!"

I chuckled, "No, that's vampires, retard…"

"What ever man…and fuck you too!" LJ then attempted you sit up from the bed, but his wrist collapsed under his weight and he fell back down. "Goddammit!"

"What is it?" Carlos said, helping LJ up, concerned.

LJ's eyes widen for a second before he quickly sputtered out, "Just, uh, hit my head against the wall, nothing bad, don't worry.

I quickly examined his forehead and found a pretty nasty looking cut over his left eye. I grimaced, then went for my radio.

"Betty, we need a medic over here. LJ got a boo-boo he needs you to kiss." Carlos laughed and I stood back up to check the fallen undead by the mirror.

"Shit, you didn't need to be-" LJ tried to protest but Carlos thought otherwise.

"Maybe, maybe not, but you're not a doctor and neither am I."

"And neither ain't anyone else man! Look, I appreciate you boys looking out for me, but I'll be fine." LJ continued to argue, damn us males and our excessive pride…

"Better safe than sorry dude." I said in response while kicking the undead deputy over and inspecting him. "LJ, this Z's head is still intact." I pointed out, staring down at the pair of aviator glasses he wore.

"Huh?" He asked confused, then realized what I meant, "Oh what ever man, he dead ain't he?"

"Gotta destroy the brain…just to be sure." I said glancing back up. "Hand me your deagle, will you?"

"De What?" LJ was clearly lost even when it came to his own weapon.

"Your Desert Eagle, LJ." Carlos answered for me. Yet LJ just sat and stared at us like we were crazy or something.

I sighed, "Your custom, pimped out, hand cannon, bro." I put it in terms he would understand

"Oh!" Recognition itching itself on his face, "Why didn't you just say so, yo?" He handed me the ridiculously overpowered pistol and I raised it over the paralyzed zombie's cranium.

"Nighty night." I said as much to myself as to the dead man on the ground, before I pulled the trigger.

"_Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world. She took the midnight train going anywhere." _I silently sang to myself as I walked away from the motel, leaving behind LJ to be "nursed" and I use that term loosely, by Betty.

"_Some will win, some will lose." _I continued to completely butcher a classic as I headed back to my Humvee, oblivious to the world around me.

"_Oh the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and-_OOF!" Suddenly some strong force pushed me forward with great momentum, I stumbled a few steps but regained balance before I could fall, soft giggling sounded off from behind me.

"Oh very funny." I said, turning to face the blonde haired perpetrator.

"What?" Kmart asked, innocently, "It was the only way to make you shut up."

I played a face of mock hurt, "Excuse me? I'll have you know that I have a very amazing voice!"

"Well if by 'amazing' you mean 'sucks so horribly', then I agree!"

"…That hurts me Kmart, that hurts me real bad."

"Oh, that's just because you're a wimp." She linked arms with mine and started guiding me over to the Humvee. "Come on, I got dinner waiting." She said.

"You made dinner for me?" I grinned, "Well I'm touched, really."

"Well, not exactly…made. More like stood out in line and fetched food rations for the two of us." Kmart shrugged as we approached my vehicle.

"It's the thought that counts." I smiled, then looked over the picnic setup she made. A large blanket laid out on the ground near a small campfire with a pair of tin cans resting in the center.

I tossed my gear into the Humvee and sat down next to Kmart who passed me one of food canisters.

"Spam for you." She dropped the can into my lap, "And macaroni for me." She said with a smile.

"Thank you." I replied before tearing off the lid of the container and peering inside. Nearly an inch of chunky excess grease met my gaze.

"Figures." I muttered, then started to scoop the pure animal fat out, so I could reach the spam underneath.

"So anything special happen earlier? We heard gunshots." Kmart asked, trying to start a conversation. My eyes flicked up and I saw that she was well over halfway through with her Macaroni.

_Girl sure does enjoy pasta…_

"Nothing we couldn't handle." I answered, popping a spoonful of grease soaked meat into my mouth and trying my hardest to just chew and swallow. "Checked the place out, saw a few Z's and took them down…oh, and LJ got his ass kicked." This got a laugh out of Kmart and I could not help but smile in response.

"The usual then?" She giggled.

"Precisely."

It was then that Claire decided to grace us with her presence. It was a usual procedure for her to check the supplies of the convoy when we make a crash spot.

"Hey Nathan" She called out and threw me a pistol magazine which I caught.

"Toss it in with the others will ya?" Claire asked and I nodded, stood up and walked over to check the trunk.

A few weeks ago, due to over crowding of supplies in the 8x8 truck, I was officially put in charge of storing the convoy's ammunition, makes sense since the Humvee is built for this line of work I guess.

I popped open the trunk and released a heavy sigh when I saw the contents. There were several munition boxes laying around…but with barely any ammo left inside them.

Claire must of heard my sigh because the next thing I know, she's looking over my shoulder and at the nearly empty ammo crates.

"God dammit." She mutters.

"Yep, pretty soon we'll be resorting to throwing rocks and using harsh language." I said humorously.

"Oh god." Claire commented, rolling her eyes, "You've been taking examples from Otto haven't you?"

Kmart, who was now leaning against the Humvee's door, let out an entertained little laugh that signaled that she was agreeing with Claire and mocking me.

I craned my head over and stuck my tongue out at her, childish, I know, but amusing non the less. Claire muttered something along the lines of "Keep it in your pants." Before she walked off, having other matters to attend to, leaving the two of us to ourselves.

I turned to Kmart, who was furiously waving her hand up and down in front of her face in a desperate attempt to stay cool; I don't blame her, it's really fucking hot out here. The temp easily reaches the 100s and goes beyond, side effects of an undead, desert, wasteland I guess…

"Hey Nathan?" Kmart's voice scattered my thoughts, "Did you hear anything I just said?" She asked, suspiciously.

Aw crap.

I grinned sheepishly, "Uh, sorry, I inda zoned out for a bit there, you were saying?" I said, praying for no backlash. To my satisfaction, she merely rolled her eyes and ignored it.

"I asked if the Humvee has air conditioning." She said as she crawled into the passenger seat, taking the hint, I moved into the driver's spot.

"It works alright, but only if we have gas." Despite what I just hinted to, I still turned the keys and set it to "Accessories".

"You sure Claire won't get pissed over this…irresponsible use of gasoline?" I went on, even though I kinda knew where all this was headed.

"Nah, I doubt it" Kmart shook her head while messing with the AC settings, a cool gust of wind filled the Humvee and I shoved a duffle bag up the gunner port to halt the escape of cold air.

"Besides." She continued, "What Claire doesn't know, won't hurt her."

I looked at her, surprised and she smiled back towards me a mischievous grin.

"Anyways," She said, eyeing the Humvee's built in radio, "This thing have any music?"

I thought back for a second, back when I first messed around with this vehicle. "Yeah," I finally remembered, "It did come with one CD…but I doubt you'll enjoy the song choice." I smirked, all knowingly.

"Well let's just see about tha-" Kmart's voice was cut off when she flipped a switch and the speakers in the Humvee started blasting a song, that one particular song that everybody seems to know…

"_Cause this is thriller! Thriller night! And no one's gonna sa-" _It only took about five seconds of the chorus for Kmart to stop the music and eject the disc.

"I don't think so." She replied, wincing and I laughed.

"What's the matter K? Not an MJ fan?" I mocked her.

"What was your first guess?" She grumbled.

"Oh, well that's okay. I'll just serenade you with my beautiful singing voice!" Reader, I'd suggest that you cover your ears, right about…now.

"_Keep on with the force, don't stop! Don't stop 'til you get enough!" _I started singing and did a retarded little dance, Kmart was not amused.

"Nathan! Shut up!"

I ignored her and kept singing and shaking around in my seat, in contrast to my companion, I was having a blast.

"Nathan, if you don't stop right now, I swear to god…"

"Oh bite me Kmart!" I snickered, but unfortunately I happened to give her an idea.

"Whoa, wait, what?" I was baffled by her head which was now getting dangerously close to my arm. "What the hell are you-OW!"

Yep, she bit me.

A few hours later, after the sun had set; Kmart, I and pretty much everyone else in the convoy was forced to pack in up and crash early due to a rather violent sand storm that had picked up and was now starting to hammer our position. I said goodnight to Kmart who, with a single glance back, scurried off to Claire's Hummer. Then I quickly shut off the Humvee's engine, closed up the doors and made damn sure the gunner port was clogged up with everything from blankets to boxes.

Finally satisfied with my sleeping quarters, I leaned back into my chair and allowed the darkness of unconsciousness overtake me…

"_Contact! We've got contacts heading this way!" A sergeant at the front of the platoon shouted and we all scrambled into action._

"_Go! Go! Go!" The lieutenant was out of his vehicle and shouting out orders at us, "Move the Humvees to position, arm the MGs, and get set up! Move it!"_

_The men in the platoon were running in every direction in a crazed attempt to get set up before the horde reached us, the three Humvees and single M939 Truck which were our escorts maneuvered to form a make shift barricade and presented our defensive line._

_The men in the trucks, whether they be passengers or drivers, all but bailed out with the exception of the gunners, who took deep breaths and armed the machine guns. Their heavy firepower will determine our fates in the up and coming battle._

_The remaining troops, including myself, all took cover behind the vehicles; weapons lock and loaded, sights calibrated, we were all so cold and professional, awaiting the order to open fire…_

_The horde was getting both closer and larger with each passing second. Their moans reached our ears, sending chills down our spines, my hands started to shake uncontrollably. The private next to me was overwhelmed by fear; a strong, foul stench reached my nose and I grimaced, realizing he had lost control of his bladder._

_I ignored the smell as best I could and tried to focus when the LT started with the order._

"_Prepare to fire!"_

_I took a deep breath and flipped my rifle off safety, the man arming the M240 machine gun on the Humvee in front of me pulled back the cocking handle on the weapon one last time for good measure, the precise orchestra of clicks and snaps around me signaled that my fellow soldiers were all locked and loaded._

_All me needed now was those two words…_

**Tap**

_The undead's moans was getting louder, the shaking was getting worst, my trigger finger itched…and I intended to scratch it._

**Tap Tap Tap**

_I lost all feeling, my body went numb, breathing slowed, I closed my eyes and thoughts and images of a better time filled my psyche…_

**TapTapTapTapTapTap…!**

"_Open Fire!"_

_All hell broke loose…_

I awoke from my nightmare with a startle, my breathing was irregular, eyes probably bloodshot, a cold sweat trickled down my neck and shivers overwhelmed my body…

**Tap…Tap…Tap**

Oh that infernal tapping is pissing me off…!

The sand storm had ceased and so I know it wasn't the cause, someone must be out there. I glared outside the window, searching for the source of the sound, but my glare softened when I realized it was Kmart.

I quickly opened up the Humvee's door and released a small smile when I saw her. "Hey."

She gave me another small smile in return, "Hey," She said quietly, hoping not to wake anyone in the convoy up. "Is everything alright?" She asked, noting my probable disheveled appearance.

My eyes widened for a split second, my thoughts going back to the memories of my nightmare, but I recovered. "I was about to ask you the same question, something wrong?" I referred to why she was outside.

She seemed hesitant to speak, "Uh, it's nothing really. I just, kinda…uh…" Since she was having trouble, I decided to take a guess.

"Had a nightmare?"

"Yes," she said quietly, as if slightly ashamed. Biting her lip furiously, "Can I…?"

She didn't even finish her sentence before I scooted over started to move any bags I had blocking the second seat. Her bright orbs grew and I looked back up to her.

"Sure." I answered her unfinished question and she released a breath of relief.

Silently, she sat down on the reclined seat and softly shut the door. I passed her a blanket and she accepted it with a thankful smile.

We both laid our tired bodies down on the makeshift beds and I slowly felt my eyelids become heavy again.

"Nathan." Kmart's voice kept the drowsiness away for the time being, I rolled over and made eye contact, anxious to heard what she had to say.

"Thank you." A warmth went down through my chest and I couldn't help but smile.

"No problem K, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

"_There's a swarm to the right! Coming through the alleys!"_

"_Heads up! They're moving in through the buildings!"_

"_First squad, shift fire, shift fire left."_

"_There's too many of them! We've gotta pullout!"_

"_Jesus Christ!"_

"_I'm running low, where the hell is the ammo!"_

"_I need a clip over here!"_

"_They're getting too close! Platoon! Fix bayonets!"_

"_Smith! Fire your fucking weapon!"_

"_Fire in the hole!"_

"_Nathan! What the hell are you doing?"_

"_Fire your weapon you goddamn pussy!"_

"_Nathan!"_

"_Smith! Do something dammit!"_

"_Holy Shit! Incoming!"_

"_Hold the line, do not falter! Smith? Wake the fuck up!"_

"_Nathan!"_

"_Nathan!"_

"**Nathan!"**

"**Nathan!"**

"**Nathan, wake up!"**

Once again I awake with a jolt…no wait, that's not me, that's someone else, somebody is shaking me, screaming at me…

"Nathan!" Kmart's voice forces my eyes to open. She's next to me, distraught and panicking. Something has happened.

"What? What is it?" I'm fully awake now, there's something seriously wrong going on. Kmart looked out the window and utter horror stretches itself on her features.

"Kmart?" I ask her worried, she's not answering, just staring out the windshieldand i follwed her gaze

chapter 10

My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, my mouth dropped open and might as well had hit the floor. Kmart had moved closer and was gripping my arm tightly, my heart rate started skyrocketing but for a different reason other than her. It was because the frightening sight that my eyes had unfortunately gazed upon outside the Humvee's windshield.

Birds. Lots and lots of birds. Hundreds of them. A massive amount of demonic, monstrous crows that were perched, covering the entire span of rooftops of the nearby buildings.

Holy Shit.

I heard Kmart shuffling to my right and forced my eyes away from the frightening spectacle to see her clutching my radio tightly and frantically trying to turn the damn thing on. She succeeded after a moment and then put all her heart and soul into her voice.

"Claire!" She half yelled, half whispered into the speaker, "I think we have a problem!"

"Kmart! Where the hell are you!" Claire's distraught voice cried back through the radio, obviously she awoke to find that Kmart had disappeared.

"Claire it's alright, she's in here with me. We're both save and secure over here." I grabbed the radio out of Kmart's delicate hands and quietly spoke into the mouthpiece, attempting to defuse _this_ situation so we could deal with the other outside. "Could we talk about this later? We kinda have a dilemma going on."

"I noticed." She replied, grimly. "Carlos?"

"I see it." Olivera's calm, profession tone transferred through the comm. It was completely opposite with that of LJ's.

"What the fuck man!" Said person cried through the radio, shock and disbelief layered into his statement.

"Everybody stay in the trucks! LJ, calm down!" Carlos ordered over the transceiver, as quietly as possible.

As each second passed, more and more birds came flying in. They were everywhere, circling in the air and perched on anything nearby, one landed on the humvee and Kmart and I got a good up close look at it.

"What's wrong with it's eyes?" Whispering, Kmart questioned and I studied the crow carefully. It's feathers were ragged and bloody, skin looked decayed and it's eyes. They were bloodshot and crazed, but were empty and soulless. Almost exactly like…

I slouched my shoulders and dropped my head when I realized just what the hell was wrong with them. I turned to Kmart and sighed, "They've been zombified." She in response, opened her mouth to say something, but it caught in her throat and she instead turned her head toward the undead crow, who during our short conversation, had hopped around the humvee's hood a bit before it flew off, heading for the school bus. Kmart's eyes followed it's trail until it landed on the bus' hood.

"We need to keep calm and quiet, they are very territorial." She spoke at normal volume now that the bird was gone. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"How'd you-no wait, let me guess, Animal Planet?"

"No, Discovery Channel."

"Ah."

Suddenly we heard Otto silently swore over the radio followed by the loud cawing of the single crow on the bus hood.

It was then, that all hell broke loose.

Every single last bird that was perched on top of the motel and surrounding area shot into the air and flew up into the swarm which was already circling the camp. Every one of the bastards were cawing loudly and were very, very annoying.

"We're so screwed." Kmart muttered as she sank into her seat as if trying to hide from the flock of zombified crows.

"Fire it up! Let's get out of here!" Claire ordered over the radio as she started backing up her Hummer.

"I couldn't agree more." I muttered as I jammed the keys into the ignition and floored it. Unfortunately, our escape didn't even last ten seconds before Kmart cried out my name and I turned to look at her only to realize her head was looking the other way. Confused, I glanced into the rear view mirror and the sight of the crashed school bus met my field of vision.

"Aw, gimmie a fucking break!" I said as I went for the radio. "Claire, more problems."

"I know, I see it. Carlos we need to evac the bus." She replied.

"You got it." Olivera said as both 8x8 and Hummer made a U-Turn and headed back towards the bus. The rest of us followed suit, turned back and headed for both the bus and ambulance, which had apparently had some engine troubles. I halted the humvee halfway there as an idea popped into my head.

"What are you doing?" Kmart exclaimed as I got out of my seat and headed for the back. I paused to look at her and frowned.

"Kmart, no matter what happens, I need you to stay here and hide, alright?" She looked beyond both confused and scared at what I was about to do.

"What?" Was all she could manage as a reply. I ignored it and reached for my thigh and unholstered my M9 sidearm, flicked off the safety and handed it to her.

"Hang on to this, if anything get in, shoot it."

Once again, all she was able to get out was a simple "What?" But now, she looked much more scared than confused.

As I reached the back seats, I looked back to her and spoke. "Please stay in here, stay hidden." Her hand dropped in horror when she realized what my intent and purpose was.

"You're going out there, aren't you…?" She whispered and I smiled sadly.

"K, promise me you won't do anything stupid, ok?"

"Bullshit!" She yelled, angered and I flinched. "Nathan you're the only one being stupid here!" Her beautiful blue orbs were getting misty and I hated myself for being the cause of her pain.

"Look, there's no time for this, the others need help and I can't just sit here and watch them get slaughtered!" I stated and her anger began to fade, overwhelmed by reason. "Please K, I'll be fine. Now just promise me you'll stay put, please?" I gave her the most sincere look I could muster and she broke under the gaze.

"Okay…" She sniffled, "I promise." I smiled in return and gave her a quick nod of thanks before I quickly removed the cloth tarp covering the humvee's gunner port and stood up in order to get behind the trigger.

The M2 Browning Machine Gun, otherwise known as the "Ma Deuce." Is a heavy machine gun which fires the fearsome fifty caliber round. The gun is usually used as an infantry support weapon, but is also extremely effective against unarmored or lightly-armored vehicles, boats and even low-flying aircraft. And when used against a flock of pissed off birds, it's effects are absolutely devastating.

I quickly checked over the gun's sights, making sure they were aligned, I made sure the ammo belt was ready and set and finally I pulled back the cocking handle, the weapon making a satisfying _snap_-_click _as a fresh round was loaded.

It was then that I screamed bloody murder and pulled the trigger.

Of course my scream was simply drowned out by the roar of the M2 as it unloaded it's .50 caliber Full-Metal Jackets. My whole body shook with the recoil despite the fact the gun was perched on the humvee. My fire had a definite effect on the bird swarm for I saw the distinct organic clouds of gore as the crow were literally exploding due to the lethality, stopping power and sheer force of the fifty. Four hundred rounds per minute is the widely accepted speed of the firing rate on a Browning and by god was I putting it to the test. Scorching hot smoke was rising out of the M2's barrel as it overheated and I slowed my firing rate down to short controlled bursts.

"Get some motherfuckers!" I screamed an insult at the top of my lungs, even then, I couldn't even hear what I was saying, all I heard was the fifty. Truth be told, I was having a blast. The Army had taught me that in the middle of combat, being as gung-ho and trigger happy as possible was a very good thing and how it just might end up saving my ass one day, or how my First Sergeant put it, "The more shit you blow up, the better chance you have of hitting someone bad." Yeah, Top was a good man, it's a shame he's dead…

The others were just about nearly done evacuating the bus and with the added fire of the fifty and the 8x8's flamethrower, the crows were currently held at bay.

At least until the poor soul operating the flamer was overwhelmed by the birds like locust on a field.

Not good…

It was then that I noticed a lone figure passing the humvee and heading straight for the convoy and the birds.

Said figure was actually a woman who looked armed to the teeth, at least from behind. She had a shotgun strapped to her back, pistols at her sides and a pair of menacing looking blades held in hand. She wasn't from our convoy, that's for sure, but then, who was she? And, where the hell did she come from?

I stopped staring and brought my attention back up to the battle only to see the flamethrower spinning out of control without no one operating it. At the same time, one of the convoy's kids had fallen from the bus and had attempted to flee, Carlos was in direct pursuit, firing madly at the birds that threaten them both. He finally reached her and was about to carry her back when the out of control flamethrower (which by some divine miracle, was still firing) spun around and shot a stream of flames directly at the pair. Carlos turned as to shield the girl from the unforgiving fire but I knew it was hopeless.

That was until the fire halted in mid air, as if some invisible barrier stopped it cold.

I blinked once, then twice, and then realized that the mysterious woman from earlier was just a few feet away from Carlos, and then, her body jerked, and the fire which was held at bay suddenly jumped to the sky and engulfed the entire flock of zombie crows. The sky was set ablaze until nothing was left but black ash which floated harmlessly to the ground, like snow. As if not even noticing what just happened and the impossibilities of the situation, Carlos approached the mystery woman and, from what I could tell, smiled at her, as if he knew her. She then collapsed into his arms and he carefully carried her back to the convoy.

Now what the fuck just happened?

"What the hell was that!" I spoke aloud to myself after about a minute of shocked silence, Kmart had stepped out of the humvee and was standing beside it now. Her gaze never left the spot where the strange woman stood.

"I haven't the slightest clue…but it was so _cool!_" She exclaimed with glee, glancing up at me while I climbed off the humvee and hit the ground. Her excitement suddenly turned to rage as she realized who she was talking to. She scowled, stomped forward and balled her fist before she decked me on the arm, _hard_.

"Oww!" I cried, rubbing my now sore shoulder. Damn, can that girl hit! "What was that for?"

"Don't you ever do anything like that again!" She screeched and lashed out at me with both fists and my shoulders took another beating. "That stupid stunt could've cost you your life!"

"Please K!" I pleaded while trying to block her punches, I caught both wrists and brought them down to her chest where they couldn't do anymore damage…I hope.

After a few seconds of useless struggling, Kmart closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, her once stiff arms slacked and relaxed themselves in my grip.

"Are you calmed?" I asked and she nodded, "Good. Now I'm going to release your arms and I'd really appreciate it if you don't attack me again, okay?" I said and again, she nodded.

I released her and she immediately hugged herself tightly while turning the other way, refusing to meet my eyes.

"Listen." I spoke and after a few agonizing seconds of being ignored, her eyes drifted to mine. "I know what I did worried you and for that I'm sorry. But you and I both know that my actions were justified, the convoy was under attack and need our help. I acted accordingly and to my duty as a soldier. Please Kmart, you have to understand." She continued to pout and stare in the other direction, but her gaze softened after a moment and then she turned to me, taking a few steps forward. I myself was a bit wary, I doubted my arms could take another beating like before and watched her movements carefully. Instead of punching me again though, her arms extended and slowly wrapped around me in a soft hug.

My eyes widened and I was dumbstruck for a second or two before I returned the hug fully with my aching arms. After all, hugs mean apologies or something along those lines, do they not?

"Sorry." She mumbled into my chest. "I can get a little intense at times."

I laughed and looked down at her, "A little? Try, 'So intense that I nearly dislocated my friend's shoulder'"

She smiled too, a very good sign. "Oh stop being such a baby. I didn't hit you _that_ hard."

"Oh no? Girl you could give Muhammad Ali a run for his money!" She laughed despite herself and broke the hug. And I suddenly and desperately missed the contact but shook it off as nothing. Kmart walked back over to the humvee and strapped herself into the passenger seat.

"Come on!" She said eagerly, "We have a new visitor and I wanna be first to meet her!"

I could only smile and shake my head, "Whatever you say, I just hope no one else got hurt…"

Here we go again, more crushed hopes.

Otto was dead, along with Nurse Betty and at least half a dozen others. Thanks to their sacrifices however, all the kids made it out a-ok. And thanks to the mystery woman and her…telekinetic abilities, a lot of deaths were prevented.

Which brings me to my next subject.

The woman's name was Alice, the same Alice that Carlos used to tell stories about. From what I heard, Carlos' stories made her sound like she had Navy SEAL training, and was apparently the greatest zombie killing machine to ever set foot on the Earth. His stories never said anything about her having psychic abilities.

None of this stopped Kmart though, she was so hyped up about meeting Alice that she hadn't left her side since we got back to camp. Hell, she's so determined to be the first thing Alice sees that she won't even get up to fetch her own food. She's bestowed that task on me; oh joy.

I picked up a pair of water bottles for the two of us and headed back to the motel, on the way, passing the memorial we made for those we lost today, and stopped to pay my respects. Ten graves, ten souls, ten people close to us who we lost today. I looked forward and saw LJ silently grieving; He was close to Betty, and I mean _close_, I can't even imagine what he's feeling right now. To lose that special someone…it's just horrible.

I tore my eyes away from the depressing sight and kept walking towards the motel. Carlos had set Alice down in one of the rooms to rest up and now I just had to figure out which one. I stepped into the hall and immediately heard the sounds of a conversation, Kmart's voice I could easily make out…but there was another unfamiliar voice, a woman's voice.

Holy crap, Alice is awake…!

I was both surprised and a bit scared truthfully, I mean, she did kinda just control fire and fill the sky with it. I think that's enough to make anybody a bit on the nervous side.

Well, unless your Kmart that is.

I opened the door as slowly as possible only for the door to make a loud _creak _as I pushed it aside. The two girl's conversation halted and their eyes locked onto mine as I stood there in the doorway, stupefied.

_Awkward…_

"Uh…morning?" I said stupidly.

"Oh, hey!" Kmart said, seemingly more cheery than usual, if that is even possible. I passed her one of the water bottles and then turned my attention to Alice. I tried my best _not _to stare and prayed to god she wouldn't set me on fire…

"Here." I said, handing her the other water bottle. _Be considerate and she may not kill you…_

"Thank you." She accepted it, her voice sounded dry and scratchy, the water would do her good.

"No problem." I replied and then stuck out my hand in greeting, "The name's Nathan."

She grasped my hand and shook it, "Alice. Of course you probably already know that if anything Kmart over here said was true." She motioned to Kmart, who was sitting patiently off to the side, obviously waiting for me to leave so she could talk to Alice some more.

I grinned and nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Gossip over here _loves_ meeting new people." My poking fun earned me a slap from Kmart, right on my sore arm.

"Oww! Watch it!" I cried out and she chuckled at her mistake.

"Sorry, forgot. How's the arm?"

"Bruised, thanks to you."

"Hey, I said I was sorry." She giggled and I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever." I said and then sighed, "Look it's almost time, we gotta get moving."

"Time? Time for what?" Alice finally spoke, being quiet throughout our playful little argument.

Kmart quietly answered her, "We're doing a memorial for everyone who we lost today. Do you wanna come along?" Alice gave her a sad smile.

"Yes, thank you."

The three of us were silent as we walked through the halls of the Desert Trail Motel and out the entrance, towards a gathering of the surviving convoy members. Each grave was marked with a crude wooden cross with a name stenciled atop, I removed my patrol cap in respect and Kmart's hand slid into my own. I turned my head and our eyes met briefly before returning back to the burial. Alice had disappeared as soon as we stepped out the motel; which now allowed me to breathe easy now. That woman kinda scares me…

I turned and caught a glimpse of LJ as he hung a necklace upon Betty's grave, his eyes were bloodshot and tears welled in his eyes. It pained me to see him, the most laidback person I know, grieving this hard. I turned to Kmart and spoke.

"Hey" She broke her sad stare and looked up, "I'm gonna go talk to LJ, I'll catch up with you later, 'kay?" She nodded and walked away, probably off to find Claire or Alice. I walked up to LJ and took a knee with him.

"LJ" I said quietly and he slowly met my gaze. "You okay bro?" He stared at me for a moment before turning his attention back to Betty's grave, shaking his head.

"Naw man" He spoke, hopelessness in his tone, "I'm not okay…and never will be." He looked back to me and I saw nothingness in his eyes, they were just…empty. I couldn't meet his gaze and my eyes shot to the floor. After a few second of silence, I mumbled, "I'm sorry for Betty" before I stood up to leave, but LJ's voice stopped me.

"Nathan" His voice was an empty monotone, "Be sure to tell her how you feel…before it's too late."

"I…" I tried to find my voice but it failed on me.

"You'll only get one chance. Make it count." LJ finished with that and I was left speechless, shocked and alone to my thoughts

chapter 11

I rested my head against the side of the Humvee as my eyelids fluttered back and forth between consciousness and slumber as I fought against my own exhaustion. The fatigue was taking it's toll on me; it was the same with everybody else. The bird attack and subsequent loss of so many of our fellow survivors had left the rest of us with…well…I guess I can't really explain it. I guess you could say that I've lost…lost some hope…

I released a sigh as my eyes darted up to the sky to try and find something to catch my attention. I let my mind wander as a million thoughts went bouncing around my subconscious.

"_Be sure to tell her how you feel…before it's too late."_

LJ's words echoed through my head as I closed my eyes and let my thoughts reign freely.

Kmart, just how much does she mean to me? A lot, I know; but just _how much _is "a lot"? I mean, I realize I like her, that much I'm sure of…but, do I…do I love her…?

Once again, I sighed deeply and buried my head into my palms while the tips of my fingers grabbed at the roots of my hair and pulled hard.

I've always asked myself; what is love? I've never really known it on a personal level and every time I've asked about it, I'd get some cryptic and or retarded answer. Everything from, "You'll know it when the time comes", to "It's something words cannot express, you have to _feel _it in order to understand." Oh, and let's not forget the ever popular response of, "Baby don't hurt me."

But you know what? I think I can come up with my own description on what "love" is. To me, quite frankly; love is _fairly fucking confusing! _

Mentally exhausted, I released a frustrated, defeated sigh and opened up the Humvee doors. To hell with all of this! I'll bother with it all later, because right now, all I really want is some shut eye.

I laid my back against the seat and found it to be one of the most comfortable positions I've been in over a month. My eyes were just starting to close when I heard a knuckle tap against the glass.

Sighing at the loss chance of sleep, I opened up the door to find a bemused Mikey standing outside.

"Can I help you?" I asked, annoyed.

"Claire just arranged a meeting; five minutes. Get off your lazy ass and get moving." He grinned and started walking over to the gasoline tanker, probably to get Chase.

Rubbing my eyes tiredly, I sat up, grabbed my patrol cap and stepped out into hot Nevada sun, heading over to 8x8.

"This had better be important…"

"Holy. Shit." I said, breaking up the syllables in "holy" as Claire and Alice told us the news.

We weren't alone, there were others out there. Survivors up in Alaska. People, _living _people, no signs of infection. I couldn't believe it.

"A safe haven, free of infection." Chase mused as he skimmed through the small and worn out journal.

While searching a not to far off gas station, Alice had stumbled upon a journal which described transmissions from a colony of survivors who were hiding in Alaska in an isolated zone, free of any undead. Safety actually existed.

Mikey was looking through the book now. "It's the promised land…" he said, his voice wavering, thick with emotion, showing that he was overjoyed.

Claire however was a completely different story.

"Alaska? Are you all crazy?" She said, exasperated and in disbelief and the rest of us stared at her as her words were blasphemy. "Have you any idea what kind of a journey that would be?" She had a good point. We were in Nevada right now, and Alaska is a long fucking way off. We'd have to travel through Oregon, Washington and then half of Canada…but _still! _Survivors for Christ's sake! This news was…well, this was _salvation_ we were talking about.

"But Claire these transmissions-" Mikey tried to protest but Claire cut him off.

"Are dated _six months ago. _How many broadcasts have we responded to? How many times have we got there too late?"

Nobody bothered to respond to that. Claire was a realist and she had the uncanny ability of stated the facts, no matter how ugly they might be. See the truth of the matter is, we haven't found any survivors in the past month, and we've responded to literally dozens of distress transmissions. Either they already moved on and we find only what they left behind…or we find bits and pieces of what's _left_ of _them_. So many times we've hopes raised only to have they stricken back down. I know, the chances of this "safe zone" being nothing more than a pipe dream are pretty high…but dammit! At least it's something! I'm so sick and tired of running scared through this wasteland, just delaying the inevitable. Just waiting for the day when one of us kicks the bucket. When I might die, or Claire, or Carlos or…or god forbid, Kmart…

No, no! Don't think about that. Bad thought. Bad thought. Horrible fucking thought…

In order to get my mind off those thoughts so frightening, I motioned to Mikey to pass on the journal. He handed it to me and I quickly skimmed through it; most of the writing we're old journal entries about how whoever wrote this was beginning to starve to death. There were some pictures, photos taken from what looked like a tourist's vacation brochure. The words "_isolation" _and _"protection" _scribbled up at the top. Continuing to the next page, I found more journal entries and several numbers/letters at the top of the pages, I think they were radio frequencies. Curious, I decided to read through the entries.

_Journal 65, date…fuck if I know, feels like summer I guess…_

_Running dangerously low on food and water. Shit, stomach's hurting like a bitch. Checked the rat traps to see if I caught any more; they were empty. Personally, I think they realized what was going on and they high tailed it out of here. Fuck. Got to remember to check the traps down by the road later. Maybe I got lucky and a dumbass rabbit walked into it or something. But dammit, I'm so fuckin' hungry right now, I just…Christ, I can barely think straight. Writing helps, but the comfort is starting to fade and fade fast._

_Was listening to emergency radio again to kill the time. Heard the broadcast on open frequencies. It was difficult to make out, took an hour or two but I think I figured out what they were talking about._

_Those survivors have some sort of sanctuary up north in Alaska. Somewhere up there, people still living, safe from these zombie shitheads!_

_I think I made out a few names today. Apparently, there are two guys who are working together up there. Heard distorted messages about a dude named Nimitz and his buddies teaming up with a guy named Reagan._

_Funny. It's like he was named after the former president. And these people keep referring to themselves in third person. What? Are these people fuckin' crazy or something…?_

My eyes widened as I realized just what the hell this guy was hearing. The _Nimitz_, the _Reagan_. Holy shit! Those are U.S Navy aircraft carriers! They're…the Navy is still alive! And that means they have a base up in Alaska! Oh my god. The must have defenses set up, a quarantine zone or something like that. Some sort of safety…

I was brought back into the real world when Alice decided to step into the conversation and try to reason with Claire.

"The transmissions say that there's no infection up there. They're isolated - safe." She wasn't the most eloquent or best at reasoning, but it sounded convincing enough. Unfortunately, Claire seemed to disagree. She responded, bitterly. "This convoy trust me with their lives." She let that sink in and I then realized how guilty I should be feeling right now. Here we are, trying to pressure her into leading the convoy outwards North, towards whatever is waiting there. Sure, it could be salvation…but it could also be death. And if we lose people, Claire will have no one to blame but herself. Damn, I can't coerce her into something this big, not when she has that heavy of a burden on her shoulders.

"These people don't need pipe dreams…" She finished with a heavy sigh.

"Maybe that's exactly what they need."

We all turned over to Carlos who finally decided to contribute to the conversation and Claire just gave him a look that just flat out said _"No"_.

Carlos ignored it and continued. "Look at them Claire." He said quietly and we glanced upwards at the rest of the convoy. None of us failed to notice how miserable the survivors looked…or how few our numbers were now.

"Six months ago; there were fifty of us. Then forty. And now they're barley even twenty." His words held the painful sound of truth. Everywhere we go, there is always some sort of accident happening. Either someone is hurt, someone gets infected, or someone gets sick with an illness; whether it be the flu, pneumonia, or even a simple cold. Everywhere we go, it seemed we end up having to bury someone. Christ, we just buried ten people this morning…

"They're starting to give up," Carlos finished up. "They _need_ some sort of hope."

"That kind of hope could get them killed." Claire retorted.

Carlos replied with a ruined laugh. "The _world _could get them killed Claire! Do you really think we have a better chance doing what we're doing now? Driving around aimlessly, hoping for the best while getting menaced by the undead _birds? _This is the best chance at safety we've _ever_ had, I say we don't sit on our asses and let it pass us by." He left it at that and none of us said a thing for a moment or two.

Claire looked so conflicted with herself, silently staring at nothing, contemplating what we were going to do.

"Okay," She said quietly and the rest of us looked up, surprised and hopeful. "But I won't be the one to make the decision; we need to gather everyone else, we're going to have a vote."

And then minutes later, all the other survivors in the convoy were gathered around the 8x8, everyone's eyes on Claire as she spoke and the moment of truth arose.

"We have a decision to make, but it's too big, too important for me to make it for you." There was complete silence as she spoke, even the dry desert wind seemed to stop, for a moment at least.

"There's a chance that there are survivors in Alaska. There's a _chance _that the infection hasn't reached that far. But we don't know for sure. So we have a choice: we stay as we are, or we try for Alaska." She paused, letting the shocking info sink in.

"For Alaska?"

I rose my hand; beside me, Kmart's delicate hand rose. To my left, to my right, many more hands were raised. It was an overwhelming response.

Claire nodded to us all and responded, quietly, "Alaska."

That was all it took.

The convoy cheered and people clapped in celebration. I laughed and to my right, Kmart reached forward for a hug which I gleefully accepted.

"We're going to be alright!" She looked so hopeful, so alive that I couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah," I smiled, contently. "We're going to make it."

And for once, the future looked bright.

An hour later, that bright future seemed to become a little more…gray.

"I've got about half a tank left, that's it. And with the added weight…" Mikey shrugged as Carlos frowned slightly.

"Chase?" He asked, clearly not expecting much, which was exactly what he received.

"Aw shit, I'm just about empty. Got enough for a hundred miles, tops." Carlos nodded with empathy. He then motioned to me and I just gave him a look and shrugged.

"Dude, I'm running on fumes. I'll be lucky if I even make it half that of Chase."

"So if we're going to make this trip," Carlos said, reached to his side to bring out an old, torn up map that's seen better days. "We're going to have to resupply." We all crowded around the map to get a good view of it.

"The nearest, safest bet is here." Carlos pointed to a small town station not far from our current position.

After a glance, Alice shook her head. "I tried that one, it's empty." She said in her usually raspy voice.

"Here?" He asked her, pointing at another nearby station. But she just shook her head again.

"Well…" He trailed off, his eyes searching for another resupply point.

"Vegas" Claire's voice suddenly stated, and we all looked over towards her side of the tent.

"It's the only place we're sure to find gasoline and supplies." She continued and the rest of us just stared at her like she was insane.

"Well there's a reason for that," Carlos said. "Vegas is too damn dangerous."

"Yeah, it's gunna be crawling with those sons of bitches." Chase said, agreeing with Carlos.

"Look we've sucked every small-town pump dry over the last six months. We have to hit a big city." We were silent for a bit, she wasn't really considering this? Was she…?

"She's right." Alice suddenly said. "Vegas is our best bet."

Great, everybody's gone crazy on us now.

"Uh, sorry; not to rain on anybody's parade but," I spoke up. "You guys do realize how low we are on ammunition, right? I mean, I've got a single magazine left for my rifle. Chase how much you got?" I asked him and he scratched his head, nervously.

"Two mags for the rifle. A dozen shots for the revolver." I then motioned to Mikey and he responded.

"Three pistol clips and a couple shells left for the shotgun." I then turned to Claire.

"If we go to Vegas, we'll have one hell of a fight on our hands. And we don't have enough ammo to last us through that fight. We'll be like lambs to the slaughter…" I finished and Claire was silent for a moment, thinking it over.

"What about Alice?" Kmart spoke up from the other side of the tent. "She killed all those crows with her fucking _mind! _Who needs bullets?" She smiled and turned her head to Alice who responded to the compliment by ruffling her hair.

Carlos chuckled. "Well, can't argue with that logic." He then turned serious. "So we doing this or what?"

Mikey shrugged. "Yeah, I'm in."

"Works for me. Let's saddle up!" Chase said.

Carlos turned to me and I grinned sheepishly. "Figures I get ruled out by the fan girl…" I said, glancing over to Kmart who took time out of her "busy" schedule of admiring Alice to glare and stick her tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes.

"So we good?" Claire asked and we all nodded. "Alright then, pack up; we leave in twenty." She dismissed us and I jogged back over to the Humvee and quickly packed up my things. It wasn't long until Claire authority came over the radio waves and we started moving. On the way there, I did a quick mental assessment of how much ordinance I'm packing.

A single magazine; roughly thirty shots for my M-16.

Three mags for my sidearm; that's forty-five rounds.

A pair of frags and a _single _40mm launched grenade.

Now, all in all; that would add up to about…I don't know, a hundred zombies dead if all goes fantastic and I don't miss, not _once._

So that's good. A hundred zombies dead…

…Out of about three million that infest the city streets.

Gotta love suicide missions. Same shit different day.

"Uh…okay, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the Las Vegas Strip supposed to be…oh I don't know, _populated or something?"_

The city was halfway under the sand. Nearly completely swept up and buried. _Gone._ There was barely anything here. Just the remnants of once brilliant lights, skyscrapers and casinos which once thrived with life. Now it was devoid of any signs of life, undead or otherwise.

Way to eerie for me…

"Stop here." Claire ordered over the radios and the convoy complied, parking to front of a halfway buried billboard. In a moment, Carlos was up the thing, climbing the ladder. He rest of top of the ruined billboard, binoculars in hand. It was silent for a bit.

"See anything?" Claire asked over the radio.

"No, nothing but sand and buildings." He responded, beginning his trek down.

This was just too weird. No zombies. That was a first. And this was once a big, well populated city. There should be hordes upon hordes of flesh eating corpses slouching and moaning their way over to us. Instead, we got sand. Lots and lots of sand.

The convoy slowly started moving again. I kept the Humvee in a slow pace as I carefully watched my surroundings. Despite the fact that all I saw was sand and buried casinos and hotels, I wasn't letting my guard down, there has to be something still here.

As we drove, I listened in to the conversations over the radio, Alice believed that the infected birds; much like the ones we fought before, had previously made Las Vegas their own personal all-you-can-eat buffet. She says that they probably went from street to street, corner to corner, consuming every undead they could find.

They picked this city clean.

I shivered and quickly glanced upward at the sky. We've already had our asses handed to us by zombie birds once before, I'd rather not go through that again…

"_Stop!"_ Claire yelled over the comm and I looked forward just in time to see the Humvee about to rear-end the gas tanker.

"Oh shit!" I slammed on the brakes, coming within just a few inches of the truck's bumper.

_Way to close to comfort…_

Grabbing a pair of Oakley sunglasses, I jumped out of the Humvee and jogged forward to check out what had Claire so spooked. The others were exiting their vehicles as well, checking their nearby area for any signs of infected.

When I got to the front of the convoy, I saw why Claire had ordered the halt. There was a huge metal freight container blocking the path. It sat I neatly, in front of a what I guess was the entrance to a parking garage or a nearby casino. The entrance also had a couple signs hanging, one of them, in neat bold print:** GASOLINE - **

Well ain't that convenient?

"We're going to have to move it." Claire muttered, I looked over my shoulder to Carlos and he nodded. I began jogging back over the Humvee to grab some hooks and cables to help out with the process. On the way, I heard Claire call out to Chase to set up a look out up on the re-created Eifel Tower. I couldn't help but chuckle at the face he made when he looked up at it's imposing height. Poor bastard.

My smile faded however when I saw LJ, however. He looked worse for the wear. His skin was pale, there were bags under his eyes, his forehead glistened with perspiration, and he just looked as if he would collapse at any given moment.

It seemed that Betty's death had fucked him up, both emotionally and physically.

He looked up and we made eye contact. It lasted for a second before he gave me a ruined smile, and shook his head.

"Don't worry about me, man. I'll be fine."

I nodded, but I didn't believe him and I didn't stop worrying. It looked like he needed help. Damn, looks like I'll have to talk to Claire about his later…

I dropped off the cables at the front of Claire's Hummer; they began working and I headed back over to the vehicles. Spying Kmart sitting on a sand dune not to far away, I walked over and casually sat down next to her; silently watching the others work.

"Doesn't really make any sense." I said, staring at the freight container.

"What does?" Kmart asked, curiously raising an eyebrow. "The lack of zombies, here?"

I shook my head. "No, just wondering…" I trailed off, still focusing on the container.

"Wondering about what?"

"Look around you." I turned to her and she slowly took in her surroundings. "What do you see?"

"Sand." She replied, simply. "Lots and lots of sand."

"Exactly." I stated. "Everything here, the whole city, is covered in sand. Cars, trees, entire buildings; all buried underneath our feet." I looked back out towards the container. "Then, how is it that a huge freight container is just randomly laying out here, in the middle of nowhere? Lying _on top _of all this sand…?"

"So somebody put it here? On purpose?"

"I guess so." I turned back to Kmart and it looked as if her curiosity peaked.

"But…why?" She asked and I was going to say something when there was yelling and a commotion going on, down by the container.

"The hell?" We both stood up and I saw Alice yelling at everyone while simultaneously waving her shotgun over at the container. Sensing something wrong, I turned to Kmart who had a worried look on her face. "I'm gunna check it out, stay here." I said and she nodded, understanding.

I ran over to where Mikey was, standing among a crowd who were silently watching Claire and Carlos try and calm down Alice.

"Hey, what-" I started but a loud crash interrupted me. Everyone looked up to see that the door to the container had suddenly came crashing down to the ground. I raised an eyebrow but when I saw Claire, Carlos and Alice all aiming their weapons over at the container, I shouldered my rifle and prepped for worst.

It was quiet for a moment, the only sounds I heard was the hot desert breeze that flew on by.

Then, all hell broke loose.

chapter 12

They came at us running. _Running! _Straight out of the dark interior of the shipping container. Out of the blackness like in a freaking little children's nightmare. Hissing, snapping, their skin was a sick brown and decomposing. Their bodies were muscular and all dressed in the same blue jumpsuits. And their eyes, they were completely bloodshot, absent of any pupils.

They were colored crimson. The color of blood.

And as they charged towards us, a seriously scary fucking thought ran through my head. They could run. And if they could run, maybe they could jump. And if they could jump, maybe they can climb…and if they can climb, then they can think, and if they can think…

I…I really don't want to think about it.

The shock and terror generated by these new crimson head, running zombies lasted for a second before I realized that they were charging our lines, and getting pretty damn close, too.

Reflexes and training overpowered my fear, taking control of my body. I sighted my target; a tall, lanky male zombie with long, shoulder length blonde hair. He was one of the undead in the front of the pack, leading the other crimson heads. I squeezed the trigger.

A three round burst escaped my rifle's muzzle and I silently swore. I had forgotten to switch my fire mode from Burst to Single Shot. With the burst mode selected, I will run through my remaining ammo at a extremely fast rate. And with the undead swarming up to us at high speed, I had no time to fiddle with my settings.

The burst that I fired hit the undead I was aiming for, but the shot went wide and only struck him in the chest. He flew backwards and face planted into the ground. He was incapacitated for moment, so I switched targets and opened fire at a second crimson head. This one went down permanently as the bullets found their mark and tore open her skull. Another one ran up, right beside her and I lit him up too. Then, spying the first zombie I hit struggling to stagger to his feet, I aimed carefully and sent another burst of rounds into his face. Promptly splattering his brains and whatnot across the Nevada sand.

Squeezing the trigger twice, in quick succession, I took down another crimson head. But then, I caught a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning slightly to the left, I spotting a single undead rushing forward, trying to catch me off guard. And this bastard was _close._

In a bit of a panic, I brought my rifle to bare, jerking the trigger, unnerved.

The three rounds that shot out missed completely and I pulled the trigger again, swearing loudly. These rounds struck the undead's shoulder. Piercing through flesh and out the other end. Despite the fact that I missed the brain; hitting the zombie's shoulder slowed him down considerably. This gave me the initiative and as the zombie was just about right on top of me, I swung the butt of my rifle around and smashed into his face. He hit the sand and I aimed at his now flattened form. A quick pair of trigger squeezes and he was finished.

I looked up and aimed my rifle again. Spying another wave of crimson heads charging out of the freight container (Christ! How many of them can fit in there?) I pulled the trigger.

The M-16 clicked. Empty magazine.

Perfect fucking timing. Now, completely out ammunition, my rifle was just about useless.

Just _about._

Thinking fast, I switched to the M203, the under-barrel grenade launcher attached to my M-16. With no time to pop up the rail system to properly aim the launcher, I guesstimated the angle and prayed for the best…

"Eat Forty-Mike-Mike! Motherfu-!" I yelled as I pulled the trigger and a loud _THUMP _echoed as the 40mm flew up into the air and arched it's way down…

…Right into the opening of the freight container.

_What a shot!_

There was a small explosion as the 40mm HE round struck a crimson head directly on the chest. His body promptly exploded and his fellow zombies were shredded by shrapnel. A huge cloud of dust and sand shot into the air and I released a tiny smile of satisfaction as I dropped my rifle to the ground and switched to my M9 sidearm. Glancing over to the left, I saw Carlos, Mikey, Claire, Alice and other convoy survivors finishing off a few surviving undead. And here I thought we were in trouble…

"Look out!" Somebody cried out, and I looked back up.

They came back at us. Through the dust cloud that obstructed our vision, another wave of seriously fucking fast undead in numbers that were seemingly larger than before. Eyes wide and scared shitless, I raised my pistol up with a jerk and I fired off a few shots. My aiming was off and only a lucky few struck their targets, and none of them were headshots.

A survivor ahead of me hefted a shotgun and let rip a shell that tore the head off a nearby zombie. She then turned, trying to switch targets in time but the other undead were too quick. They were upon her in a second, and in that second, I saw the destructive force that they carried with them.

These crimson heads, these _monsters _tore the poor woman apart, literally. She released a terrified shriek before the zombies ripped her vocal cords from her throat…along with her arms and legs.

I resisted the urge to vomit as I gagged and hurriedly aimed down my weapons sights. I shot off a few more rounds and began a steady retreat, walking backwards while still firing. Stopping only to reload. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the crimson head zombies overrunning and taking down other members of the convoy. I realized that holding this ground was suicide. We had to fallback. They're too fast and there's too many. We have to fallback…!

The scream that pierced through the chaos of battle sealed the deal for me. Sure, there was plenty of screaming and yelling going on. But this scream was different. This scream was special.

This scream was _her_ scream.

"Kmart!" I cried out. Sprinting back, towards the convoy, running as fast as my feet could carry me. Behind me, I could still hear the hisses of undead who were giving chase and I turned around, bringing my pistol up with one hand, all of this while still running.

There were two behind me. They were seriously fucking _fast! _They neared closing the gap between us while I opened fire.

Most of my shots missed but a lucky shot clipped a crimson head in the shoulder. He staggered for a bit before running at me again, full speed sprint.

_Oh shit…_

Suddenly, the zombie in front took multiple hits from small arms fire. A round went through his eye and he fell. Mere seconds after, another hailstorm of lead fell upon the other undead, ripping his body apart. He face planted into the ground, dead. I stopped running are scanned the area for whoever just saved my ass.

I caught sight of something upwards and saw Chase, giving me a small wave from up atop the replicated Eiffel Tower. I nodded a silent thanks before sprinting off, towards the direction Kmart must have ran to.

Paying no heed to the chaos around me, I searched the line of vehicles, looking for some sign of the girl I had developed such strong feelings for. At this point, my thoughts were panicked, clouded, and downright irrational. I had to find Kmart. Nothing else mattered at this point.

Hearing her voice yelling from the 8x8, I felt adrenaline surge through me and I rushed forward. There was a single undead at the truck, bashing his fists against the passenger side door. I could hear Kmart from within the truck, shouting and swearing at zombie to, "Leave me the fuck alone!"

Without hesitation, I stepped forward, pistol raised and spoke up. "Hey! Asshole." The crimson head stopped assaulting the door, he whipped his body around to face me and hissed.

"The lady asked you to fuck off!" I fired several rounds which ripped through rotting flesh and he fell, dead as dead can be.

"_Behind you!" _Kmart shrieked and I spun around just in time to catch sight of an undead right before he tackled me to the ground. I hit the sand, hard and lost grip on my pistol. With the zombie on top of me, I balled my hand into a fist and clocked him across the face, while at the same time, my other hand went to his neck and I clutched it with the tightest grip I could muster. I pushed up with all my strength. If I could keep him in that position, then he wouldn't be able to bend his head down to bite me.

I eyes connected with the zombie's crimson eyes and I saw death itself staring back at me. The crimson head seemed to…sneer at me and I reacted by pulling my free arm around for another punch at his head.

What I _didn't _expect was for the zombie to catch my fist with his palm and pull my arm to the ground with astonishing strength. Pinning me to the ground, near helpless.

The undead, h-he just showed some signs of…Jesus Christ! Was that intelligence?

_This isn't happening. This isn't fucking happening…!_

He glanced down to my arm which gripped his neck and brought forth a free hand which clamped on my wrist with bone crushing force. I cried out in pain from the iron grip and the undead tore my hand away from his neck, pinning me down, now completely helpless.

_Oh my god…_

I stared up at him, terrified. I vaguely remember Kmart screaming my name and the realization hit me. I was going to die. I was going to die and Kmart was _right there!_

Kmart was going to watch me die.

The undead dove his head down and I felt a force against my chest. I yelped and the undead bite down. His head came back upward and I expected his mouth to be full of _my _blood.

But instead, I saw nothing but a torn, dull, grayish colored cloth hanging in his mouth. It was from my ballistics vest! My body armor stopped the undead's bite!

The crimson head spat out the torn up cloth and seemed to glare down at me. My mind was busy rushing through a dozen different escape plans when suddenly the undead's head exploded.

My head smacked into the ground, shocked and bits of gore splashed across my face. The headless corpse of the zombie fell limp over me. I pushed the carcass off and looked up to find one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen before in my life.

"You okay?"

It was Kmart, cradling a shotgun with a smoking barrel.

Hallelujah, sweet baby Jesus.

"Come one! Get up!" She helped me to my feet and guided me over to the 8x8, piling into the driver and passenger seats. She locked the reinforced door behind us, and I released a painful breath I was holding.

"Thanks." I said between exhausted breaths.

"No problem." She said, concerned. I looked at her and she bit her lip. "Are you…", Her words trailed off, and she shook her head before continuing. "Did the zombie, uh, did it-"

"No." I reassured her, knowing what she was going to ask. I looked down at my chest and pointed at the tear in my armored vest. "The Kevlar saved my life." I gave her a small, comforting smile and she looked relieved. That's good.

She nodded and we both looked out the windows, towards the combat outside. It wasn't a very pretty sight. We were losing people left and right. There was no other way to describe it. Complete chaos. 100% Grade-A Clusterfuck.

Loud claps of gunfire right next to the truck drew my attention outside. LJ was there, his Desert Eagle raised, cutting down a zombie who was charging towards him. I was reminded of my own pistol which I abandoned outside. I mentally kicked myself for that.

LJ's sidearm clicked empty and he swore. He threw the weapon to the ground and his face started darting left and right, looking for some sort of safety.

We had to help him.

Kmart kicked open the door and I yelled at him. "LJ! Get your ass inside!"

He gladly accepted the invitation and jumped into the cramped driver's space. Slamming the door behind him, a single undead only a few seconds away from the truck.

Needing to make room in order for LJ to fit, Kmart scooted over to the nearest possible seat, which just so happened to be on top of my lap. Hormones relished and I had to mentally kick myself again in order to focus. Now is not the time for this.

I also pleaded to God that she wouldn't notice the tightening sensation or bulge beneath her.

"You okay?" I said to LJ who looked worse for the wear.

"Fuckin peachy." He groaned. I was going to comment on his battered look but a loud slam on the passenger side door stole our attention.

There was an undead at LJ's side of the vehicle. He kept bashing the door, his fist no doubt putting dents into the metal. Seeing how it was futile, he then went for the window, tearing off the iron gating welded to the truck and then smashing the glass itself. He released one last hiss and snarl before Kmart pumped the shotgun she held and sent a 12 Gauge clean through the crimson head's skull. The kickback from the weapon sent shockwaves through Kmart and into me, the recoil was incredible. The corpse fell limply to the ground and Kmart set the shotgun off to the side.

"We're out of shells." She stated, quietly. I nodded and glanced back out, towards the chaos.

"The hell are these things?" I asked LJ and he shrugged.

"Zombies on steroids apparently."

"Is now really the best time to be making jokes?" Kmart questioned him.

"Now may be the last time we'll be able to…" He replied on a down note, his face was seldom serious and that sent the shocking truth through me.

We really are kind of fucked right now, aren't we?

Suddenly, the backdoors to the news van sprung open and out jumped Mikey. There were undead around his ride, tearing the van apart. He had bailed out and was trying to get away when a single undead from atop the van, jumped off and managed to grab hold of his ankle, bringing him down to the sand.

Kmart screamed his name.

He began wrestling with the undead, trying with all his might to get the zombified bitch off of him. But she was too strong and was about to sink her teeth into his flesh when her head promptly exploded. I looked into the rear view mirror for where the shot came from.

And there was Claire, beside the Hummer, holding a smoking rifle.

"Mikey! Over here!" She yelled, her rifle sending another round down range, striking another zombie in the chest.

But there were just too many of them for Claire to take down. Mikey tried as hard as he could to get away, but the undead overtook and overwhelmed him. He fell and we could do nothing but sit and helplessly watch as he was torn apart by the crimson heads. Kmart gasped, the tears springing down her cheeks, and her hand cupped her mouth to keep from screaming. I snapped my eyes shut and pulled Kmart closer. She couldn't see this. She didn't need to see this.

She whimpered and I held her tight, her tears soaking my shirt. Christ, this… this is just too much! We've lost so many already and now…? Damnit! It's not fair! _It's not fucking fair!_

I barely took heed to Claire and Carlos cleaning up the remaining infected outside. Instead, the nearby hissing sound caught my notice, my eyes opened and I looked up.

_Oh God…no…_

LJ was… LJ was one of _them!_

How did we not see it? How could we not have seen the signs? He was sick, feverish, tired, sweaty, lethargic, pale, there were bag beneath his eyes. Those we're clear signs of infection. How? How could be not have _known?_

Maybe because it was LJ.

LJ, the convoy's heart and soul. He had a joke for every occasion, capable of making anyone and everyone laugh. Lighthearted, kind, full of life LJ.

He couldn't be dead, he just couldn't.

But he was. Or at least undead.

Sensing the impending doom, Kmart glanced up, just in time to see LJ lean in to bite.

She screamed and I kicked my boot up, pressing it firmly into his chest, effectively keeping the zombified LJ away from Kmart. He wasn't going to get to her. I'd die first.

Suddenly, another pair of hands grasped LJ from behind, pulling him off of us. It was Carlos. He looked confused. As if trying to make sense out of our situation.

Then, LJ bit into his arm.

Carlos cried out in pain as he tossed LJ out the 8x8. He squirmed as he tried to get back up, trying to bite him again.

"LJ…" Carlos said quietly, pistol raised as the now zombie LJ made a last ditch lunge upwards.

Carlos fired.

I flinched as the pistol sounded off. As much as I hate it, there was nothing I could to. LJ was gone. We have to move on.

Breathing heavy, with tired eyes, Carlos looked at us.

"Have you seen Alice?"

I shook my head. "No"

He nodded before speaking again. "You two alright?"

I didn't speak for a moment. I certainly didn't _feel _alright. In fact, I felt like complete shit, the worst I've felt in a long time… but Kmart was still alive, I can't complain. Not now. Not after all this…

I glanced down at Kmart once more, her breathing was rough and her eyes were still wide with shock. I shook my head and looked at Carlos.

"We're still alive." I told him and he nodded, understanding the hidden meaning behind my answer. Sure, we we're fine physically, but mentally? I'll be carrying the scars of today with me for the rest of my life…

"Come on," Carlos said, motioning towards us. "The rest of the undead are gone." He gave one last depressed look at the fallen LJ before he walked back over to the back of the 8x8, helping the kids out of the back.

My eyes followed him as he went; LJ had bitten Carlos, there was no point in denying that, Carlos was infected.

Carlos was going to _die._

I swallowed a lump in my throat at the thought of that. One more name to add to our list of dead.

I glanced down to Kmart, she was still clutching my chest, her eyes wide, still in a bit of shock.

I hoped to god that she didn't realize that Carlos was bit, her heart was broken enough already…

"Kmart, come on, we need to go." I nudged her shoulder and she snapped out of her dazed state, looking upwards to me.

"Okay." She whispered and I opened up the truck door on _my_ side. I-I don't think I have the strength to walk over LJ's corpse…

Stepping out of the 8x8, the first thing I noticed was the soft, quiet sobs. It was Claire; grieving over Mikey's fallen form. Kmart bit her lip and sniffled at the sight, I gave her shoulder a small squeeze and she look up, eyes red and puffy.

"Claire could use you right now." I whispered to her and she nodded, nearly running over to Claire and enveloping her in a comforting hug. The two of them cried together and I turned away. As much as I wanted to cry alongside them, I couldn't. They needed to be alone.

My radio started squawking, Carlos was broadcasting over it. _"Chase, come in. Are you on this frequency? Chase, respond. Chase?" _He kept trying and I realized it was hopeless. Chase was gone. Another fallen friend.

I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face into my palms. Dozens of names, faces and memories flashed through my mind. My long list of the dead.

_All my comrades lost back in Colorado, Otto, Betty, Chase, Mikey, LJ, soon to be Carlos…Mom…_

And then slowly, but surely…I felt apart of myself die inside.

chapter 13

Kmarts POV

i picked myself up off the ground still clinging to claire and made our way back to the hummer. her eyes were red and her face stained with her tears and dirt.

away from the convoy, where i was sitting before the attack happened, nathan was sitting atop the sand dune.

''claire, im gonna go talk to nathan ok?''

''ok'' claire sniffled ''go ahead''

as i made my way to the sand dune, i heard the door to the hummer shut. turning around i saw claire climb into the back seat and lay down.

_whats gonna happen to us now. _

looking


End file.
